BANCROFT 
LIBRARY 

THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 


jtr- 

"LAW  IS  LlBEHTY."— (Inshta  Theamba— Bright  Eyes.) 

HIDDEN     POWER. 

A    SECRET    HISTORY 

OF 

THE    INDIAN    RING, 

ITS  OPERATIONS,  INTRIGUES  AND  MACHINATIONS. 

REVEALING 

THE    MANNER    IN    WHICH    IT    CONTROLS     THREE 

IMPORTANT  DEPARTMENTS  OF  THE  UNITED 

STATES    GOVERNMENT. 


A  DEFENSE  OF  THE   U.   8.   ARMY,  * 

AND 

A  SOLUTION  OF  THE  INDIAN  PROBLEM. 


T.  HfTIBBLESr  I S  3  &-  ( ^1  8" 


NEW    YORK: 

Copyright,  1681,  by 

G.    W \    Carleton   &    Co.,    Publishers. 

LONDON  I     S.    LOW,    SON   &   CO. 
MDCCCLXXXI. 


~PZ3 


Stereotyped  by 

SAMUEL  STODDER,  TROW 

ELECTBOTTPEII  &  STEREOTYPEB,  PBomNa  AND  BOOK-BINDINO  Co 
90  ANN  STBEET,  N.  Y.  N.  Y. 


BANCROFT 
LIBRARY 


DRAMATIS    PERSONS. 


Military  Officers. 

Colonel  GREENE,  Colonel  COLDCRAFT^ 

Major  HODSON,  Captain  HINKLE, 

Captain  BELFOR,  Lieutenant  BLAKE. 

Washington  Officials. 

Secretary  of  the  Interior. 
Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs. 
Senator  L. 

Congressman  H.  (or  DAN), 
Senator's  Private  Secretary. 

Indians. 

RED  IRON,  WAJAPA, 

MEHA,  LITTLE  WOLF, 

SWIFT  WALKER,  Two  CROW, 

HAIRY  BEAR,  LITTLE  WARRIOR, 

BADGER,  LEAN  BEAR, 

GRAY  CLOUD. 

Interpreters. 
SHONNEE,  PREEMO. 

Scout. 
CAPTAIN  JACK. 

W 


DKAMATIS     PERSONS. 

Indian  Commissioners. 

H.  O.  CLARK,  Mr.  HUGHS, 

Mr.  SMITH,  Mr.  BORDEN, 

Mr.  BILLIARD,  Mr.  MARK  AM. 

Indian  Inspector. 
J.  YOUNG  BROWN. 

Missionaries. 

Mr.  PARKMAN,  Mrs.  PARKMAN, 

JENNIE  WALKER,  Catholic  Priest. 

Lawyers. 

Mr.  WILMOT,  Mr.  DAWSON, 

BLEDSOE  &  DOSIER,  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY. 

ATTORNEY  OF  DEPARTMENT  OP  JUSTICE. 

Indian  Agents. 

H.  L.  PERKINS,  Mr.  HARKINS, 

JOHN  HILDRETH. 

Government  Detectives. 
C.  C.  AXELL,  Mr.  LOFT. 

Indian  Traders. 
A.  S.  PARKER,  Mr.  Cox. 

Members  of  the  Press. 

Washington  Correspondents. 
Traveling  Correspondent. 
Editor  of  the  Pioneer. 


PEEFAOE. 


IF  any  reader  of  this  book  desires  to  make 
"invidious  comparisons,"  between  any  of  the 
characters  portrayed  in  my  story,  and  any  sen 
ator,  representative,  secretary  of  the  interior, 
commissioner,  army  officer,  agent,  trader,  in 
spector,  scont,  lawyer,  missionary,  peace  commis 
sioner,  or  contractor,  now  living  or  dead,  he  will 
have  to  do  so  on  his  own  responsibility,  for  I 
distinctly  avow  that  no  such  incidents  as  are  re 
corded  herein  ever  occurred  on  the  Little  Blue  or 
Missouri ;  that  no  such  army  officers'  names  were 
ever  on  the  roster  of  the  United  States  army,  that 
I  never  knew  any  peace  commissioner  by  the 
name  of  Clark,  any  army  officer  by  the  name  of 
Colonel  Greene,  any  contractor  by  the  name  of 
Perkins,  or  any  Indian  inspector  by  the  name  of 
Brown.  I  did  know  one  Indian  by  the  name  of 
Red  Iron,  but  he  was  hung  by  the  whites  a  long 
time  ago.  He  was  a  very  bad  Indian. 

THE  AUTHOE. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTEB  PAGE 

I.  The  Scout's  Wooing 11 

II.  The  Indians  did  it 26 

III.  A  West  Pointer's  First  Service 36 

IV.  A  Secret  Council 58 

V.  Indians  Discuss  the  White  People's  Religion. . .  63 

VI.  A  Desperate  Battle 68 

VII.  Old  Hairy  Bear's  Orgies  and  Meta's  Heroism. . .  81 

VIII.  A  Woman's  Conquest 87 

IX.  The  Contractors'  Harvest 95 

X.  Meha  Deceived 98 

XL  A  Ride  for  Life 102 

XII.  On  the  War-path 110 

XIII.  Totally  Depraved 112 

XIV.  Twenty-five  Thousand  Dollars 122 

XV.  Jack  in  Red  Iron's  Camp   ! . .  124 

XVI.  Treating  with  the  Military 131 

XVII.  Congressmen  on  a  Spree 138 

XVIII.  A  Peace  Commission 144 

XIX.  A  Guarded  Approach 154 

XX.  Military  Meddlers 162 

XXI.  A  Government  Linguist 169 

XXII.  Secrets  of  the  Indian  Bureau 174 


X  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

XXIII.  Official  Information 181 

XXIV.  What  Could  it  Mean  ? 186 

XXV.  Dividing  the  Spoils 193 

XXVI.  Dying  like  Brave  Men 204 

XXVII.  Colonel  Greene  Disgraced 221 

XXVIII.  An  Agency  School 228 

I  XXIX.  The  Mighty  Monarch 233 

XXX.  Wreaking  Vengeance  on  a  Woman 240 

XXXI.  Jack's  Stratagem 252 

XXXII.  A  Legal  Tangle 256 

XXXIII.  Indians  Discussing  the  Whites 263 

XXXIV.  The  Exiles 270 

XXXV.  Dawson's  Discovery 277 

XXXVI.  Dogged  by  Detectives 284 

XXXVII.  Gone  to  the  Arickoree 289 

XXXVIII.  Defeated 293 

XXXIX.  A  Court-martial  299 

XL.  A  Secret  Council 307 

XLI.  A  Reporter  and  a  Priest 314 

XLH.  A  "  Straight "  Transaction 319 

XLIH.  Meha's  Fate 326 

XLIV.  Jack's  Opinion  of  Injuns  328 

XLV.  Mrs.  Parkman  Translates  a  Cipher  Letter 337 

XL VI.  Beyond  Control 340 

XLVII.  Oh!  for  the  Military 346 

XL VIII.  Three  Million  Dollars . .  .349 


HIDDEN"    POWER 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE   SCOUT'S  WOOING. 

HEN  Lewis  and  Clark  made  their  voyage  up 
the  Missouri  River  in  1803,  after  toiling  for 
many  days  against  the  rugged  current  of  that 
turbid  stream,  they  landed  at  a  place  on  the 
eastern  shore  and  held  a  council  with  the  Indians. 
They  named  the  place  Council  Bluffs,  and  it  is  so 
called  to  this  day.  Many  years  afterward,  the  outskirts 
of  permanent  settlements  hesitated  and  stopped  for  a 
moment  on  the  eastern  bank  of  the  Missouri,  and  was 
now  just  invading  the  verge  of  what  was  marked  upon 
the  atlas  of  those  days  as  "  The  Great  American  Des 
ert."  A  few  houses,  some  more  or  less  pretentious, 
made  up  all  there  was  of  the  "  city  "  of  Council  Bluffs. 
In  the  bar-room  of  the  hotel  was  assembled  a  crowd 
of  men.  Some  were  drinking  at  the  bar,  some  were 
playing  "  poker,"  others  looking  on,  or  listlessly  loung 
ing  about  in  different  positions.  Standing  by  a  window 
and  looking  out  over  the  wide,  level  bottom  toward  the 

[11] 


12  THE    SCOUT  8    WOOING. 

river,  with  his  hands  clasped  behind '  him,  was  a  young 
military  officer.  He  had  cairn  blue  eyes,  light  hair, 
was  about  five  feet  ten  inches  tali,  a  strong,  muscular 
frame,  a  mild  expression  about  the  eyes  and  mouth, 
and  a  skin  yet  unbrowned  by  the  Western  sun  and 
winds.  His  thoughts  seemed  to  be  in  some  far-off, 
distant  land,  and  lie  paid  no  attention  to  what  was 
going  on  around  him. 

In  another  part  of  the  room  a  very  different  indi 
vidual  sat  in  a  chair,  with  his  feet  elevated  almost  as 
high  as  his  head.  His  eyes  were  said  by  some  to  be 
gray,  by  others  to  be  black.  Both  were  right.  When 
his  thoughts  were  pleasant,  or  when  he  smiled,  the 
darkness  faded  out  of  them,  but  when  excited  or  angry 
they  gleamed  with  a  terrible  ferocity.  He  was  six  feet 
tall,  yet  he  was  so  perfectly  proportioned  that  he  did 
not  look  so.  His  hands  were  small  and  finely  shaped, 
his  forehead  high,  his  head  large,  arid  covered  with  a 
most  luxuriant  growth  of  black  hair.  At  times  his 
manner  was  perfectly  fascinating.  There  was  a  sweet 
ness  in  the  tones  of  his  voice,  an  indescribable  tender 
look  about  the  eyes,  a  sort  of  whole-souled  way  with 
him,  that  would  impress  the  most  stolid  and  indifferent. 

Those  who  have  conventional  ideas,  formed  from 
the  literature  which  has  been  current  in  the  past,  would 
not  think  this  a  good  description  of  a  frontiersman, 
scout  and  guide,  but  this  is  the  way  Captain  Jack  ap 
peared  to  a  quiet  looker-on  as  he  sat  in  the  bar-room  of 
the  Causeland  House  on  that  day. 

How  did  such  a  man  adopt  such  a  life  ?  Well,  I 
will  tell  you. 


THE    SCOUT'S    WOOING.  13 

Jack's  father  moved  to  Illinois  when  it  was  a  wilder 
ness.  As  the  country  settled  up  "it  got  too  thick  for 
him,"  and  he  moved  across  the  Mississippi  into  Iowa. 
When  the  land  around  him  was  all  taken  up,  no 
"  range "  left  for  his  cattle  and  horses,  and  no  more 
game  to  hunt,  he  started  to  move  on  again.  But  his 
journey  was  short,  for  disease  overtook  him,  and  he 
died  in  his  "  prairie  schooner, "  and  was  buried  in  a 
little  grove  of  trees  by  the  road-side.  Jack's  mother  had 
died  before,  and  a  large  family  of  children  were  left 
fatherless  and  motherless  in  a  country  where  there  were 
neither  children's  aid  societies  nor  orphan  asylums. 
Jack  found  a  home  in  a  frontier  cabin,  worked  hard  in 
the  summer  and  went  to  school  in  the  winter.  He 
finally  went  to  live  with  a  western  lawyer,  and  while 
there  got  a  taste  for  reading,  and  devoured  Blackstone, 
Kent  and  Fuffendorf.  Encouraged  by  his  friend,  he 
resolved  on  obtaining  an  education,  went  back  East  and 
worked  his  way  through  college. 

Near  the  college,  a  cousin  of  Jack's  resided,  who 
was  a  Methodist  preacher,  and,  like  a  good  many  of 
that  denomination,  was  extremely  fond  of  a  good  horse. 
He  owned  the  wildest,  most  unmanageable  and  fastest 
horse  in  that  part  of  the  country.  He  had  a  junior 
preacher  on  the  "  circuit "  with  him  who  owned  the 
famous  trotting  mare  "  Lilly  Dale,"  but  Lilly  was  as 
gentle  as  a  lamb.  Within  the  bounds  of  the  "  circuit " 
and  in  the  suburbs  of  a  large  city  there  had  settled  an 
English  family.  The  beauty  of  two  of  the  daughters 
was  the  talk  of  the  whole  country  round  about.  The 
family  was  very  exclusive.  It  was  known  that  the 


14:  THE    SCOUT'S    WOOING. 

mother  was  a  member  of  the  English  nobility,  had 
married  beneath  her  rank,  and  recently  came  to  this 
country  on  account  of  some  family  unpleasantness  which 
arose  out  of  that  circumstance.  There  was  a  great  deal 
of  talk  about  the  beauty  of  the  oldest  of  the  two 
daughters.  She  did  not  go  into  society  much,  loved  re 
tirement  and  home,  and  had  refused  offers  of  marriage 
from  the  sons  of  some  of  the  wealthiest  families  in  the 
city.  She  had  sometimes  come  to  hear  Jack's  cousin 
preach,  and  he  described  her  beauty,  comparing  it  to 
what  he  imagined  Rachel's  to  have  been. 

Jack  had  never  been  in  society  and  was  as  rough  and 
uncouth  as  any  western  barbarian  could  be,  but  he  had 
heard  so  much  of  this  English  lady  that  he  had.  a  great 
curiosity  to  see  her.  One  night  Jack  gave  a  lecture  on 
"  Life  in  the  Far  West,"  and  she  was  in  the  audience. 
A  few  days  after  this  she  came  to  visit  a  family  living 
in  a  neighboring  village.  It  was  the  same  house  where 
the  young  preacher,  the  owner  of  "  Lilly  Dale,"  was 
residing.  Without  telling  Jack  that  she  was  there,  the 
young  preaoher  one  day  invited  Jack  to  go  over  home 
with  him,  and  he  mounted  that  unmanageable  horse  of 
his  cousin's  and  went.  Jack's  arms  were  aching,  and  his 
hands  were  swollen  with  trying  to  hold  the  horse,  when 
he  arrived.  They  hitched  the  two  horses  and  walked 
into  the  house.  When  Jack  came  into  the  parlor,  he 
saw  standing  by  the  piano  the  most  lovely  woman  he 
had  ever  beheld.  She  had  that  English  complexion 
with  rosy  cheeks  which  is  so  seldom  seen  among  Amer 
ican  ladies,  faultless  form,  rounded  arms,  white  as  snow, 
and  dimpled  hands.  Jack  had  never  seen  such  a  sight  be- 


15 

fore  in  all  his  life.  He  was  astonished  and  overwhelmed. 
He  stood  like  one  petrified.  But  she  addressed  him  in  a 
manner  so  kind  and  self-possessed  that  his  embarrass 
ment  soon  passed  away.  She  talked  mostly  about  his 
lecture,  the  hardships  he  had  endured,  and  denounced 
the  treatment  of  the  Indians  by  the  American  govern 
ment  in  the  most  scathing  terms,  yet  in  the  most  lady 
like  way  imaginable. 

After  a  while  they  went  out  on  the  lawn,  and  he 
spoke  of  the  English  custom  of  ladies  riding  on  horse 
back.  She  said  she  was  very  timid,  and  was  afraid  of 
almost  every  animal  except  a  horse,  but  the  horses  were 
all  her  friends.  Jack  pointed  to  his  cousin's  horse,  and 
told  her  there  was  an  exception  ;  that  he  was  a  regular 
villain,  and  would  delight  in  nothing  better  than  biting 
her  head  off. 

"  Oh,  no !"  she  said.  "  You  misrepresent  the  poor 
horse ;"  and  she  went  up  to  him  and  patted  him  on  the 
neck. 

That  villain  of  a  horse  actually  put  down  his  head 
and  rubbed  his  nose  against  her  shoulder.  Jack  was 
astonished.  He  had  never  seen  him  act  that  way  be 
fore.  She  continued  petting  the  horee,  he  became 
more  and  more  docile,  and  finally  said  she  would  like 
to  ride  him. 

"  That  would  be  madness,"  said  Jack.  "  He  is  so 
hard-mouthed  that  the  strongest  man  cannot  hold  him." 

"  Oh,"  said  she,  "  that  is  because  you  are  not  kind  to 
him.  He  is  such  a  fine,  strong  horse,  he  could  gallop 
over  these  hills  without  effort.  I  would  like  to  ride 
him." 


16  THE    SCOUT'S    WOOING. 

Jack  looked  at  her  in  amazement.  She  smiled,  and 
put  on  such  a  pretty,  pleading  look,  he  did  not  know 
what  to  say.  It  was  the  first  time  he  had  ever  con 
versed  with  a  cultured  and  refined  young  lady  in  his 
life.  He  did  not  know  what  was  the  proper  thing  to 
do.  Finally  he  said  : 

"  But  there  is  no  saddle  ;  you  cannot  ride  without 
a  lady's  saddle." 

"  Oh !"  she  replied,  "  if  you  will  let  me  have  the 
horse  I  will  ask  one  of  the  servants  if  he  will  be  kind 
enough  to  bring  me  a  saddle." 

That  rebel  of  a  horse  was  standing  there  as  quietly 
as  a  pet  lamb,  and  she  stroked  his  head  with  her  white, 
dimpled  hand  and  looked  up  to  Jack  for  an  answer. 
Of  course  he  said  she  could  have  the  horse.  A  servant 
brought  a  saddle,  and  she  went  into  the  house  and  put 
on  a  riding  habit.  The  saddles  were  exchanged,  and 
Jack  looked  to  the  girths  to  see  that  they  were  all 
right  and  strong.  She  came  down  the  pathway,  and 
then  he  began  to  wonder  how  she  was  to  mount  that 
great  horse.  He  said  to  her,  as  she  went  to  the  j*de  of 
the  horse: 

"  There  is  no  saddle  block  here.  How  will  you  get 
on?" 

She  replied :  "  Oh,  the  servant  will  be  kind  enough 
to  assist  me." 

The  servant  extended  his  hand,  she  put  a  dainty 
little  foot  in  it,  gave  a  light  spring  and  landed  in  the 
saddle.  As  she  gathered  up  the  reins,  the  wind  blew 
her  long  riding '  habit  under  the  horse.  He  gave  one 
plunge  forward  and  reared  upon  his  hind  feet.  Jack 


WOOING.  17 

saw  the  old  gleam  come  into  his  eyes.  The  next 
second  the  horse  dashed  away  like  an  arrow  shot  from 
a  bow.  For  a  moment  Jack  was  motionless  with 
surprise  and  terror,  the  next,  ho  was  on  the  back  of 
Lilly  Dale.  He  had  on  a  pair  of  Mexican  spurs  which 
he  had  brought  from  the  West  with  him ;  he  pressed 
them  into  the  flanks  of  the  mare,  and  she  dashed  away 
in  pursuit,  with  the  long,  steady  leap  peculiar  to  her 
breed.  But  that  mad,  unmanageable,  blooded  bay,  with 
the  helpless  lady  on  his  back,  was  fully  five  hundred 
yards  ahead  of  him.  Down  through  the  village  he 
went,  across  the  bridge,  and  up  the  rocky  road  along 
the  mountain  side.  Jack  urged  the  mare  to  her  utmost 
speed,  but  the  horse  had  a  lighter  load,  and  the  ascent 
was  steep.  Jack  pressed  the  spurs  into  her  side  until 
the  blood  ran  out,  and  with  nostrils  extended  and  head 
stretched  forward  she  plunged  on.  Jack  saw  it  was  no 
use,  the  horse  was  gaining  on  him.  As  the  horse 
turned  a  point  on  the  mountain  side  he  saw  her 
"sawing"  on  his  mouth,  but  sitting  firmly  in  the 
saddle.  She  had  the  reins  wound  around  her  hands. 
Nearly  at  the  top,  he  passed  an  old  farmer,  carrying 
some  sacks  of  grain  on  a  horse.  As  Jack  went  by  he 
cried  out :  "  Hurry  up,  or  that  is  a  dead  young  woman 
sure."  But  the  mare  was  doing  all  she  could.  She 
was  breathing  hard  and  fast,  and  the  perspiration  was 
running  from  her  neck  and  shoulders  in  streams,  while 
the  greatest  danger  was  going  down  the  mountain  on 
the  other  side.  If  the  horse  should  miss  his  footing 
once,  she  would  be  dashed  in  pieces. 
,  As  Jack  reached  the  summit  he  saw  the  horse,  fully 


18 

a  thousand  yards  ahead,  going  down  the  declivity  in 
long  and  steady  leaps,  but  she  was  still  sitting  firmly 
in  the  saddle.  He  saw  no  more  until  he  reached  the 
foot  of  the  mountain,  for  the  trees  and  turns  in  the 
road  hid  them  from  view  ;  then,  still  further  ahead,  up 
a  long,  level  lane,  he  saw  the  horse  dashing  forward, 
with  those  strong,  measured  leaps,  while  his  mare  was 
showing  signs  of  exhaustion;  but  she  was  still  sitting 
straight  in  the  saddle,  neither  looking  to  the  right  nor 
the  left.  Presently  the  horse  turned  into  a  lane  to  the 
right,  and  ran  straight  against  the  wind.  Jack  could 
see  her  across  the  corner  of  the  field,  still  with  a  firm 
hold  on  the  reins.  The  wind  blew  her  riding-hat  off, 
but  she  did  not  turn  her  head.  Just  as  he  rounded 
into  the  lane,  he  looked  up  and  saw  the  horse  coming 
back.  He  either  had  turned  himself,  or  she  had  turned 
him.  Now  was  his  opportunity.  He  checked  up  the 
mare,  and,  as  the  horse  came  back,  turned  in  close  to 
l^im,  dropped  the  reins  and  caught  him  by  the  bits. 
The  horse  pulled  Jack  out  of  the  saddle,  but  he  held 
on  with  a  grip  like  death.  The  blood  flowed  from  the 
horse's  mouth  in  a  stream  where  the  bits  cut  him,  but 
was  soon  stopped.  For  the  first  time  Jack  looked  up 
into  her  face.  There  was  a  little  red  stream  trickling 
down  over  her  cheek,  where  a  branch  of  a  tree  struck 
her  as  she  was  dashing  by,  and  all  the  color  had  fled  from 
her  face.  As  soon  as  the  horse  stopped,  she  bounded  from 
the  saddle  to  the  ground.  Jack  was  nearly  exhausted 
himself,  and  he  threw  the  reins  over  a  fence  post  and 
came  up  to  her.  She  was  looking  at  her  hands,  from 
which  she  had  taken  her  gloves.  Around  the  center  of 


THE    SCOUT'S    WOOING.  19 

each,  where  she  had  wrapped  the  reins,  there  was  a 
bloodless  white  circle.  Neither  could  ever  remember 
what  was  the  first  words  spoken,  but  after  a  moment  or 
two  Jack  said : 

"  You  are  brave  enough  to  be  the  wife  of  a  frontiers 
man." 

"  Do  you  think  so  ?"  she  asked. 

"Yes,  indeed  I  do." 

"  That,"  she  replied,  "  would  be  an  honor  for  any 
true  woman." 

The  earnestness  and  dignity  with  which  she  spoke 
these  words  went  through  Jack  like  an  electric  shock. 
He  took  her  hand  and  kissed  it,  and  she  did  not  resist. 

That  was  all  the  engagement  they  ever  had. 

Jack  put  the  side-saddle  on  Lilly  Dale  and  mounted 
that  villainous  bay  himself.  Upon  inquiry  he  found 
that  they  were  twelve  miles  from  the  village.  Half 
way  back  they  met  several  parties  coming  in  search  of 
them,  and  the  whole  village  turned  out  to  meet  them 
when  they  returned. 

Two  years  after  that  the  wedding-day  was  fixed. 
Jack  had  graduated  with  honors.  Besides  that,  he  had 
finished  his  legal  studies,  and  read  a  full  course  of  med 
icine.  It  was  a  bright  morning  in  June  when  he  took 
the  cars  for  the  home  of  his  beautiful  and  loved  one. 
At  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  she  would  be  his  own. 
On  the  way  he  read  over  her  letters.  How  much  he 
loved  her  no  pen  will  ever  write.  It  had  been  ten  days 
since  he  had  seen  her.  At  that  time  all  the  arrange 
ments  for  the  wedding  had  been  made.  He  could  not 
wait  for  the  train  on  which  he  had  promised  to  come, 


20 

but  took  one  which  arrived  two  hours  earlier.  He 
went  to  the  door  and  rang  the  bell ;  a  servant,  whose 
eyes  were  red  with  weeping,  opened  it.  As  he  stepped 
in  he  heard  the  sound  of  weeping. 

"  What  has  happened  ?"  asked  Jack. 

"  Oh,  I  cannot  tell  you,"  said  the  servant,  and  mo 
tioned  him  to  come  into  the  reception  room.  A  few 
minutes  later  a  clergyman  of  the  Church  of  England 
came  in. 

"My  dear  sir,"  said  he,  "you  must  prepare  yourself 
for  sad  news." 

"  Oh !  what  is  it  ?"  cried  Jack,  trembling  from  head 
to  foot.  "Is  she  dead?" 

"  I  thought  I  would  break  it  to  you  gently,"  said  the 
clergyman. 

The  tremor  in  Jack's  limbs  ceased.  He  said  not  a 
word.  No  sound  escaped  his  lips.  A  deathly  paleness 
came  over  him,  and  he  stood  there  like  a  marble  statue. 

Then  the  clergyman  told  him  how  she  had  gone 
down  to  the  river,  which  skirted  their  grounds,  to  take 
her  morning  walk  with  her  sister  and  her  maid.  She 
went  out  on  the  boat  landing;  a  board  slipped  from 
beneath  her  feet,  and  she  fell  into  the  river.  The  body 
had  only  been  recovered  an  hour  before. 

Jack  took  one  look  at  the  form,  surprisingly  beauti 
ful,  even  in  death.  He  shed  not  a  tear  nor  uttered  a 
sigh.  He  walked  away.  The  next  few  months  always 
seemed  like  a  confused  dream.  Every  hope  and  aspira 
tion  was  in  the  grave  of  his  loved  and  lost.  He  went 
West,  loitered  around  in  border  towns  for  a  while,  and 
then  undertook  to  shut  civilization  out  of  his  sight  by 


THE    SCOUT'S    WOOING.  21 

joining  an  Indian  tribe.  Sometimes  he  would  come 
back  to  the  towns,  and  seem  to  seek 'death  in  quarrels 
with  the  most  desperate  characters,  but  death  never 
comes  to  those  who  seek  it.  Since  that  sad  day,  fifteen 
years  had  passed  away.  Jack  had  spent  them  among 
the  Indians,  in  garrisons,  on  long  and  sometimes  solitary- 
journeys  over  the  uninhabited  country,  in  different 
Indian  wars,  in  hunting  and  trapping.  He  had  picked 
up  the  jargon  of  the  frontier,  and  spoke  in  a  dialect 
which  would  lead  one  to  suppose  that  he  could  neither 
read  nor  write.  Sometimes,  however,  when  conversing 
with  well  educated  people  he  would  unconsciously  drop 
it,  and  speak  as  good  English  as  any  one  for  a  few 
sentences. 

Such  is  a  brief  outline  of  the  early  history  of  the 
celebrated  Captain  Jack. 

As  he  sat  in  the  Causeland  House  that  June  after 
noon,  looking  out  of  a  window  upon  the  street,  an  Indian 
woman  passed  by  with  a  bright-eyed  little  pappoose  on 
her  back.  Captain  Jack  smiled,  Lieutenant  Blake,  the 
young  officer,  gave  a  look  of  mingled  contempt  and  dis 
gust.  As  the  woman  came  opposite  the  wide-opened 
door,  one  of  the  other  men  called  out : 

"Hallo,  there!  you  squaw!  come  in  and  take  a 
smile.  It  will  make  you  feel  good  all  over.  Hold  on, 
I  say !  stop  !"  and,  as  the  woman  walked  on,  he  called 
out  again,  "  Stop,  I  say  ;  stop  !"  and  with  that  he  rushed 
out,  took  hold  of  the  woman,  and  pulled  her  inside  the 
door. 

Lieutenant  Blake  said  not  a  word,  but  walked  out  of 
the  room.  The  Indian  woman  stood  before  these  men 


22 

trembling  in  every  limb.  The  rush  of  the  hot  blood 
to  her  cheeks  could  be  seen  through  the  brown  skin. 
The  bright-eyed  little  baby  stared  in  wonder. 

The  man  handed  her  a  glass  of  whisky,  but  the 
woman  shook  her  head. 

"  Oh,  drink  it,"  he  said,  and  put  his  arm  around 
her  neck  to  force  it  down  her  throat.  At  this  juncture 
Captain  Jack  came  forward  and  said,  in  a  low  tone, 
which  quivered  with  rage,  while  his  eyes,  now  jet 
black,  gleamed  like  balls  of  fire  : 

"Let  go  that  squaw,  er  you  will  have  more  holes 
than  a  skimmer  in  ye,  inside  of  a  minute." 

The  man  stepped  backhand  said  : 

"  What  business  is  it  of  yours  ?" 

"  Its  anybody's  business,  I  reckon,"  said  Jack. 

"Draw,"  said  the  man,  putting  his  hand  on  the 
butt  of  his  pistol. 

"  You  are  a  cussed  fool,"  said  Jack,  and  he  struck 
him  a  blow  between  the  eyes  which  floored  him  in 
stantly.  Then  he  walked  back  to  his  seat,  elevated  his 
heels,  and  looked  quietly  out  of  the  window.  He  saw 
the  Indian  woman  fleeing  toward  the  river,  saw  her 
throw  away  her  blanket  and  skirt  and  disappear  over 
the  bank.  She  plunged  into  the  muddy  water  with 
her  baby  on  her  back  and  struck  out  for  the  other  shore, 
which  she  reached  in  safety. 

When  the  man  arose  from  the  floor,  he  was  orna 
mented  with  two  black  eyes. 

"  I  don't  want  no  more  fighting  here,"  said  the  bar 
keeper,  "  and  I  won't  have  it." 


23 

"  P'raps  you  won't  and  p'raps  you  will,"  said  the 
man. 

"You  want  to  git  into  business,  do  you?"  said  the 
man,  addressing  Jack,  and  he  whipped  out  a  small 
pocket  revolver  and  commenced  firing  at  him.  He 
emptied  his  revolver,  five  shots,  in  quick  succession. 
Jack  did  not  move  a  muscle,  but  sat  quietly  looking 
out  of  the  window.  When  the  firing  ceased,  he  looked 
up  in  the  most  unconcerned  sort  of  a  way,  and  said: 

"  Oh !  you  were  firing  at  me,  were  you  ?  Now  let 
me  give  you  a  piece  of  advice.  The  next  time  you 
come  out  West,  don't  trust  to  a  toy  like  that  pistol  of 
yours." 

Jack  pulled  out  an  eight-inch  Colt  revolver,  cocked 
it,  and  walked  up  to  the  man,  who  turned  as  pale  as 
death.  "  JSTow,  with  this  ere  shooter  of  mine,"  said  he, 
"  I  can  hit  any  button  on  your  coat  at  twenty  yards." 
By  this  time  the  perspiration  had  started  out  of  every 
pore  of  the  man,  his  lips  seemed  glued  to  his  teeth,  and 
a  glassy  look  came  into  his  eyes.  He  did  not  say  a 
word. 

The  bar-keeper  was  hiding  behind  the  counter. 
Most  of  the  men  had  fled  from  the  room,  and  those 
who  remained  were  crowding  up  against  the  wall,  out 
of  range  of  Jack  and  his  man. 

"  You  oughtn't  to  go  away  from  here,"  said  Jack, 
"  without  redeeming  your  reputation  as  a  shot,  'cause 
you  won't  be  safe  nowhere  with  such  a  reputation  as 
this.  Every  feller  you  meet  will  be  picking  a  quarrel 
with  you.  Here,  take  this  tool  of  mine  and  whack 
away  a  few  times,  and  see  if  you  can't  do  better." 


24: 

Jack  handed  him  his  revolver,  but  it  fell  to  the  floor 
from  his  nerveless  hand  and  discharged  itself. 

"  I  give  it  up,"  said  Jack.  "  I  don't  believe  I  could 
ever  learn  you  to  shoot.  Maybe  ye  ain't  well,  and 
sort  of  unnarved.  Say,  you  bar-keeper;"  and  then, 
looking  round,  k'  Where  in  thunder  is  that  bar-keeper  ?" 
and  he  walked  up  to  the  counter,  looked  over  and  said  : . 
"  Bob,  up  here  and  give  this  feller  a  dose  of  your 
pizen.  He's  got  out  of  order." 

The  bar-keeper's  head  instantly  appeared  above  the 
counter.  A  glass  and  a  big  black  bottle  were  set  out. 
Jack  poured  out  a  tumbler  two-thirds  full,  handed  it  to 
the  man  and  said  : 

"  I  reckon  this  will  waken  ye  up  to  a  sense  of  your 
responsibilities,  after  which  you'd  better  give  that  pistol 
to  some  baby  for  a  plaything."  Jack  walked  out  and 
went  off  up  the  street. 

A  few  minutes  afterward,  those  who  had  fled  when 
the  firing  commenced  came  back  and  pressed  in  at  the 
door. 

"  Anybody  killed  ?"  asked  one. 

"  No,"  said  the  bar-keeper,  "  but  there's  one  feller 
about  scared  to  death." 

"Who  is  the  feller  who  shot  at  Jack?"  asked 
another. 

"  I  know  all  about  him,"  said  one  of  the  men.  He 
is  the  son  of  a  Congressman  from  Pennsylvania.  He 
had  a  contract  for  one  of  the  big  agencies  up  the  river, 
made  a  pile,  then  got  to  gambling,  and  lost  it  all,  and 
now  has  a  big  claim  for  damages,  caused  by  a  raid  from 
the  Sioux,  in  which  he  claims  he  lost  fifty  thousand 


THE  SCOUT'S   WOOING.  25 

dollars'  worth  of  supplies.    My  opinion  is,  we  had  better 
keep  in  with  him,  for  he  is  likely  to  get  the  money." 

An  account  of  this  affair  appeared  in  the  Pioneer, 
a  weekly  paper,  published  in  the  town.  It  was  headed 
"  A  Disgraceful  Row."  The  account  read  as  follows  : 

"  Just  after  we  went  to  press  with  our  last  issue  a  most 
disgraceful  row  occurred  at  the  Causeland  House.  A 
dirty  squaw,  belonging  to  the  Missouri  Indians,  came  to 
town  with  a  pappoose  on  her  back.  She  went  into  the 
Causeland  House  saloon,  and  begged  a  drink  of  whisky 
of  a  gentleman  who  happened  to  be  in  there  at  the 
moment.  The  gentleman  at  first  refused,  but  she  asked 
again  and  again,  and  said,  '  Me  heap  sick.  Git  heap 
hot,  then  git  cold.'  The  gentleman,  thinking  she  had 
the  ague,  told  the  bar-keeper  to  give  her  a  glass  of 
whisky.  Just  then,  a  fellow  who  is  pretty  well  known 
down  the  river,  and  who  has  since  left  town,  snatched 
the  glass  of  whisky  from  the  squaw's  hand  and  threw 
it  on  the  floor.  He  then  pulled  out  his  revolver  and 
fired  several  shots,  some  at  the  'squaw  and  some  at  the 
gentleman  first  named.  The  firing  naturally  caused  a 
good  deal  of  excitement  in  the  saloon  and  hotel,  and  it 
is  pretty  hard  to  get  at  all  of  the  facts  of  the  case.  If 
we  have  not  stated  them  correctly,  we  will  take  great 
pleasure  in  making  any  correction. 

"  The  squaw,  after  leaving  the  Causeland  House,  hung 
around  town  for  a  while,  at  last  got  drunk,  and  threw 
her  pappoose  in  the  river  and  drowned  it." 


THE    INDIANS    DID     IT. 

CHAPTER  II. 

THE  INDIANS   DID   IT. 


S  soon  as  Jack  left  the  hotel,  Perkins,  his 
assailant,  went  to  his  room,  where  he  held 
a  long  consultation  with  himself.  It  was 
evident  he  had  "  waked  up  the  wrong  pas 
senger,"  and  it  would  not  do  to  remain  where  he  was. 
He  resolved  to  go  down  the  river,  and  he  took  passage 
and  stopped  off  at  the  first  station,  a  little  town  on  the 
bank  of  the  river,  which  has  since  disappeared  from  the 
map  ;  and  not  only  from  the  map,  but  from  the  face  of 
the  earth,  for  it  long  ago  tumbled  into  the  Missouri 
river  and  went  to  increase  the  deltas  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Mississippi.  The  place  was  called  Hickman's.  There 
was  a  "  hotel,"  besides  two  or  three  other  houses.  It 
was  a  station  on  the  regular  stage-line,  and  a  good  many 
travelers  stopped  there.  The  five  card-tables  in  the 
bar-room  were  generally  occupied.  There  were  a  large 
number  of  Indians  on  the  other  side  of  the  river,  and 
Hickman  drove  a  lively  trade  with  them.  The  next 
day  after  Perkins's  arrival  a  band  of  them  came  over  and 
camped  on  the  bank  of  the  river,  about  a  mile  below. 
He  soon  found  some  who  spoke  the  Sioux  language,  of 
which  he  knew  enough  to  carry  on  considerable  conver- 
saHon.  He  was  quickly  on  very  good  terms  with  them, 
and  that  night  there  was  a  blanket  spread  in  a  tent,  on 
which  a  game  of  dice  (Indian  dice)  was  played.  A$ 


THE    INDIANS     DID    IT.  27 

first  the  Indians  won.  Then  Perkins  left,  went  to  the 
hotel  and  returned  with  another  man  in  a  spring  wagon, 
and  the  game  was  resumed.  The  Indians  lost.  Their 
money  and  their  furs  were  soon  all  in  Perkins's  pocket 
or  in  the  wagon.  While  the  game  was  going  on,  a 
half-breed  Indian  had  been  sitting  behind  Perkins,  and 
just  as  it  closed,  or  rather  what  closed  it  was,  this  In 
dian  went  over  to  the  others  and  said  something  to 
them.  This  Indian  had  discovered  that  Perkins  had 
two  sets  of  plum  seeds  (dice),  and  sometimes  he  played 
with  one  and  sometimes  with  the  other.  This  created 
a  great  uproar  on  the  Indian  side  of  the  tent,  and  as 
Perkins  did  not  understand  a  word  of  their  language 
he  was  at  a  loss  to  know  what  it  was  about,  for  when 
Indians  lose  at  gambling  they  always  take  it  very 
calmly. 

The  noise  in  the  tent  attracted  the  attention  of  some 
Indian  women  outside.  Two  or  three  of  them  put  their 
heads  in  at  the  door  of  the  tent  to  see.  One  gave  their 
greatest  expression  of  surprise,  "  He-oo-oo,"  and  all  in 
stantly  withdrew.  Immediately  there  was  rapid  talking 
and  much  confusion  outside.  All  the  Indians  inside 
rushed  out,  and  Perkins  followed.  There  was  evidently 
something  wrong.  A  moment  after  an  Indian  came  up 
with  a  woman.  Perkins  looked  at  her  and  saw  the  one 
whom  he  had  dragged  into  the  Causeland  House.  In 
one  moment  more  he  was  in  his  wagon,  and  twenty 
young  Indians  after  him  yelling  "like  all  possessed." 
Perkins  put  his  horse  to  his  highest  speed,  got  to  the 
"  hotel/'  which  was  a  big  log-house,  rushed  in  and  cried, 
"  The  Indians  are  coming.  They  are  all  on  the  war 


28  THE     INDIANS     DID    IT. 

path."  In  an  instant  the  doors  were  closed,  the 
shutters  slammed  shut,  and  every  man  in  the  house  was 
looking  to  his  arms.  The  women  and  children  were 
crying  and  screaming,  and  general  confusion  and  panic 
prevailed.  Half  the  revolvers  were  empty  just  when 
they  ought  to  have  been  loaded.  There  was  a  large 
amount  of  ammunition  in  the  store,  which  was  five 
hundred  yards  away,  and  the  Indians  howling  around  in 
every  direction.  Some  of  the  gamblers  got  down  on 
their  knees  and  prayed,  and  some  swore  like  pirates,  to 
keep  their  courage  up.  In  the  Indian  camp  things  were 
different.  The  chief,  when  the  hubbub  was  at  its 
height,  came  out  of  his  tent,  but  before  he  could  learn 
what  was  the  matter,  Perkins  had  fled  and  the  young 
men  had  started  after  him  without  orders  from  anybody. 
The  chief  stood  still  for  a  few  moments,  during  which 
time  some  of  the  older  men  gathered  around  him.  To 
these  he  spoke  about  half  a  dozen  words.  A  pony  was 
brought  to  him  ;  he  dropped  his  blanket  where  he  stood, 
leaped  upon  its  back,  and  without  arms  of  any  kind, 
dashed  after  his  young  men.  Within  ten  minutes  every 
tent  was  down,  ponies  packed,  and  the  Indian  train  was 
on  the  move  through  the  heavy  forest  down  the  river 
bank.  Before  the  chief  had  got  to  the  hotel  the  young 
men  had  taken  the  contents  of  Perkins's  wagon,  cut  the 
harness  to  pieces,  and  broken  in  the  windows  of  the 
store.  One  word  from  the  chief  put  a  sudden  stop  to 
the  doings  of  the  young  men.  Five  minutes  later  they 
were  following  the  trail  of  the  main  body  down  the 
river.  Before  daylight  they  had  crossed  to  the  other 
side. 


THE     INDIANS     DID     IT.  29 

It  was  now  as  silent  as  the  grave  outside  of 
Hickman's  Hotel,  but  this  only  increased  the  horrors 
within.  Some  of  the  men  had  undertaken  to  steady 
their  nerves  and  strengthen  their  courage  by  heavy 
potations  of  com  whisky.  As  the  barkeeper  had  for 
saken  his  post,  any  one  could  help  himself.  Some  of 
the  cooler-headed  ones  saw  how  that  would  end,  and 
stationed  a  man  at  the  bar  with  orders  to  shoot  the  first 
man  who  attempted  to  get  at  the  whisky.  Two  men, 
already  half  crazed  with  fright  and  whisky,  tried  to 
overcome  the  guard,  a  fight  ensued  and  one  was  stabbed, 
and  his  body  thrown  out  doors. 

Circumstances  of  great  peril  generally  produce  men 
who  are  equal  to  the  occasion,  and  it  so  happened  at 
Hickman's  on  that  horrible  night.  It  seemed  essential 
that,  to  preserve  their  lives,  there  should  be  authority 
lodged  somewhere  to  organize  and  conduct  a  defense. 
Five  or  six  collected  in  a  room  and  chose  a  quiet  young 
man,  who  was  stopping  over  there,  because  the  stage 
driver  had  left  his  baggage  at  St.  Joseph.  He  was  a 
surveyor.  The  others  swore  solemnly  to  obey  every 
order,  and  to  exert  themselves  to  the  utmost  to  enforce 
obedience  from  the  rest.  The  newly-made  Captain 
stationed  guards  so  as  to  view  every  approach  to  the 
house,  inspected  all  the  arms,  and  distributed  them  to 
the  men  in  equal  proportions.  He  tore  up  the  floors 
and  barricaded  the  doors  and  windows  so  as  to  be  bullet 
proof,  put  the  women  and  children  in  places  of  safety, 
and  then  sent  for  Perkins,  to  learn  from  him  as  nearly 
as  possible  the  number  of  the  Indians  and  the  cause  of 
the  trouble. 


30  THE     INDIANS     DID    IT. 

Perkins  said  lie  was  down  at  their  camp  just  out  of 
curiosity.  The  first  thing  he  knew,  a  lot  of  Indians 
got  around  him  and  commenced  a  war-dance.  He 
knocked  two  of  them  down  and  escaped. 

The  Captain  then  sent  for  the  man  who  was  with 
Perkins,  and  he  told  an  entirely  different  story.  He 
said  that  they  had  been  running  races  and  wrestling  with 
the  Indians,  and  he  had  thrown  their  best  man  three 
times,  the  last  time  very  hard,  at  which  the  Indians  got 
angry  and  tried  to  kill  him. 

The  young  Captain  thought  it  was  important  to 
know  the  truth  about  the  matter,  so  he  sent  for  Perkins 
again,  and  looking  him  straight  in  the  eyes,  said  : 

"  Perkins,  you  told  me  a  lot  of  infernal  lies  when 
you  were  in  here.  Now  tell  me  the  truth,  or  as  sure 
as  there  is  a  God  in  heaven  I  will  throw  you.  out  of 
a  window  and  leave  you  to  the  mercy  of  these  savages. 
They  would  probably  be  satisfied  if  I  should  turn  you 
over  to  them,  and  I  have  about  made  up  my  rnind  to 
do  it." 

Perkins  immediately  told  the  whole  story  correctly,  • 
so  far  as  the  gambling  was  concerned,  and  then  he  was 
dismissed. 

All  night  long  the  sentries  stood  at  their  posts. 
Not  a  sound  was  heard,  not  a  living  thing  was  seen. 
It  was  the  opinion  of  all,  that  the  Indians  would  make 
an  attack  just  before  dawn,  but  at  last  the  sunlight 
broke  over  the  tops  of  the  hills  ten  miles  away,  and 
then  streamed  over  the  Missouri  bottom. 

Shortly  after  the  stage  rolled  up  to  the  door.  It 
was  full  of  passengers,  and  carried  a  heavy  mail.  The 


THE    INDIANS     DID    IT.  '61 

passengers  were  greatly  agitated  when  they  heard  the 
news. 

The  Captain  of  the  night  before  made  up  his  mind 
that  the  Indians  had  left.  He  took  three  men  with 
him  and  rode  out  to  reconnoiter.  In  a  few  minutes  he 
struck  the  trail,  and  after  following  it  for  a  mile  or  two 
returned.  While  he  was  gone,  four  or  five  of  the  men 
held  a  private  council.  They  seemed  to  be  old  ac 
quaintances. 

"  There  is  a  big  mail  aboard  of  that  coach,"  said 
one. 

"Yes,"  said  another,  "and  there  is  a  treasure  box 
and  a  lot  express  matter,  too." 

"  How  many  men  was  there  in  it  ?"  asked  another. 

"  There  are  only  three." 

"  But  there  is  the  driver  and  a  lot  of  women  and  chil 
dren." 

"  This  is  the  best  chance  we  will  ever  git,"  said 
one.  "  The  Injuns  did  it.  Don't  you  see  ?  For  that 
matter  we  could  come  right  back  here  and  be  perfectly 
safe." 

"  If  I  ever  git  my  fingers  on  that  Wells,  Fargo  & 
Co.'s  box,  I  think  I'll  see  how  much  fun  there  is  in  St. 
Louis  for  a  while.  I'm  in  for  going  for  it." 

To  this  they  all  assented.  They  went  into  the  ho 
tel  and  waited  for  the  Captain's  return.  Everybody 
agreed  that  the  Indians  had  gone  across  the  river.  The 
four  men  then  announced  their  intention  of  going  down 
to  St.  Joseph,  paid  their  bills,  mounted  their  horses  and 
rode  away  to  the  south.  They  all  had  a  camping  outfit 
with  them.  There  was  a  roll  of  blankets  and  a  pair  of 


32  THE    INDIANS     DID    IT. 

saddle-bags  on  each  horse.  They  rode  leisurely  along 
for  about  a  mile,  and  then  spurred  Into  a  sharp  trot  for 
a  while.  At  last  they  stopped,  held  a  short  consulta 
tion,  and  turned  out  of  the  road  into  the  timber.  After 
going  eastward  for  a  short  time  they  changed  their 
course  to  the  north.  The  grass  on  the  bottom  was  al 
most  as  high  as  a  man  on  horseback,  and  made  it  very 
exhaustive  work  for  the  horses  to  press  through  it. 
They  urged  them  forward  as  fast  as  they  dared,  and  not 
break  them  down  with  their  efforts,  until  they  came  into 
an  old  Indian  trail  which  led  in  the  right  direction. 
They  followed  this  trail  until  it  intersected  the  stage 
road  leading  from  Hickman's  to  Council  Bluffs.  A  short 
distance  ahead  was  a  heavy  body  of  timber.  They  rode 
into  this,  dismounted  and  hitched  their  horses.  The  men 
then  stripped  themselves  to  their  skins  ;  a  paper  of 
some  kind  of  light  brown  dye  was  poured  into  a  camp 
kettle,  and  it  filled  with  water.  In  this  they  washed 
their  hands,  faces,  arms  and  bodies  down  to  their  waists. 
With  a  sharp  pair  of  scissors  they  had  trimmed  their 
beards  close  to  their  faces.  Then  they  striped  their 
faces  and  breasts  with  red  and  black  paint.  The  change 
in  their  personal  appearance  was  most  marvelous.  To 
all  outward  appearance  they  were  Indians  on  the  war 
path.  They  then  stationed  themselves  by  the  roadside, 
but  they  had  some  time  to  wait,  for  to  make  sure  that 
they  would  have  time  they  had  sent  one  of  their  num 
ber  along  the  regular  road  to  tear  up  a  bridge  which  it 
would  take  some  time  to  reconstruct  to  make  it  possible 
for  the  stage  to  pass  over. 

At  last  it  came.     With  a  regular  Indian  war-whoop 


THE    INDIANS    DID    IT.  66 

the  men  rushed  out.  Two  caught  the  lead  horses  by 
the  bits.  A  shot  from  another  brought  the  driver  to 
the  ground.  Several  shots  were  fired  from  the  coach 
by  the  passengers,  one  of  which  killed  the  robber 
holding  the  near  lead  horse,  but  the  other  one  held  on 
iirmly.  The  freed  horse  plunged  forward  and  this 
turned  them  nearly  around.  The  other  two  robbers 
fired  rapidly  into  the  coach.  One  woman,  one  man 
and  two  children  were  killed  and  one  man  wounded. 
One  of  the  robbers  climbed  on  the  boot  and  threw  out 
the  treasure-box.  One  passenger  jumped  out  and  fled 
into  the  woods.  The  terrified  horses  broke  away  from 
the  robber  who  was  holding  them,  and  plunged  head 
long  through  the  woods,  over  the  bank,  down  into  the 
river,  and  all  who  were  in  the  coach  disappeared  be 
neath  the  muddy  water.  The  three  robbers  carried 
their  dead  comrade  out  of  the  road  and  then  scalped 
the  dead  driver  in  true  Indian  style.  They  were  at  a 
loss  what  to  do  with  the  body  of  their  comrade.  They 
finally  concluded  to  wash  the  paint  from  the  body, 
scalp  it,  and  leave  it  by  the  driver.  From  the  treasure- 
box  they  got  thirteen  thousand  dollars.  After  they  had 
mounted  their  horses  and  were  ready  to  start,  one  of 
them  suggested  that  the  body  of  their  comrade  might 
betray  them,  for  it  might  be  recognized  by  somebody 
from  Hickman's  or  the  Causeland  House.  One  of  them 
said  he  would  fix  that ;  he  rode  back  and  so  disfigured 
the  face  that  it  would  be  impossible  for  it  to  be  recog 
nized.  The  robbers  then  rode  away. 

No  stage  arrived  at  Council  Bluffs  that  night,  and 
the  greatest  anxiety  prevailed.     As  the  same  coach  was 
2* 


34  THE    INDIANS    DID    IT. 

to  go  back,  none  could  leave.  About  midnight  the 
passenger  who  had  escaped,  arrived.  The  whole  town 
was  aroused  and  the  entire  population  was  panic- 
stricken.  Two  luckless  Indians  who  came  in  early  in 
the  morning,  entirely  ignorant  of  what  had  happened, 
were  shot  dead  at  sight.  The  escaped  passenger  was 
the  lion  of  the  day.  Every  time  he  told  the  story  of 
the  attack  on  the  stage-coach  by  the  Indians,  he  put  on 
a  little  more  varnish. 

About  midday,  Perkins  arrived,  on  a  horse  white 
with  foam,  for,  from  the  place  where  he  saw  the  dead 
bodies  to  Council  Bluffs,  he  had  kept  him  at  the  top  of 
his  speed.  He  had  come  to  tell  the  news  of  the  attack 
on  Hickman's.  Thousands  of  Indians,  he  said,  were  to 
be  seen  on  the  west  side  of  the  river,  all  in  their  war 
paint.  It  was  his  opinion  that  every  settler  between 
the  Bluffs  and  the  Missouri  line  would  be  scalped  be 
fore  midnight.  Messengers  had  been  sent  from  Hick 
man's  for  troops. 

All  this  added  fuel  to  the  flame,  the  wildest  rumors 
were  circulated,  and  everything  was  in  confusion.  A 
public  meeting  was  called,  and  Perkins  was  the  most 
prominent  speaker.  He  urged  the  immediate  forma 
tion  of  a  military  company.  The  company  was  forth 
with  organized,  and  he  was  elected  Captain. 

The  Pioneer  was  a  typographical  curiosity  when  it 
appeared  that  week.  Blood-thirsty  head-lines,  in  dis 
played  type,  filled  almost  an  entire  column,  indicating 
what  was  contained  in  the  recital  following.  As  the 
editor  got  his  inf ormation  from  Perkins,  and  as  Per 
kins  had  a  vivid  imagination,  and  was  a  master  of 


THE   INDIANS   DID   IT.  35 

descriptive  eloquence,  the  horrible  atrocities  of  those 
blood-thirsty  savages,  as  recorded  in  the  Pioneer,  would 
throw  any  ordinary  reader  into  a  tremor.  They  had, 
without  any  cause  whatever,  assaulted  Hickman's  Hotel, 
and  murdered  one  man,  whose  body  was  found  just-out 
side  of  the  building.  They  made  a  raid  on  the  store, 
which  contained  a  large  amount  of  ammunition,  which 
they  were  about  to  seize,  when  they  were  driven  away 
by  a  courageous  sally  from  the  Hickman  House,  led  by 
Perkins.  They  then  retreated  and  the  next  day  as 
saulted  the  stage-coach,  murdered  all  the  men  but  one, 
disfigured  the  dead  bodies,  outraged  the  women,  then 
murdered  and  scalped  them,  put  their  bodies  into  the 
stage  coach,  and  drove  them,  with  two  children  still 
alive,  into  the  Missouri  river.  This  was  the  substance 
of  it,  filled  out  with  many  horrible  details,  too  disgust 
ing  to  put  into  a  permanent  record,  or  be  read  by  decent 
people. 

Perkins  ordered  a  thousand  extra  copies,  some  of 
the  contractors  two  thousand  more,  and  the  editor  had  a 
lively  time  in  his  office  for  several  days.  The  old 
hand  press  was  worked  day  and  night. 

Perkins  mailed  a  marked  copy  to  each  member  of 
the  House  and  Senate,  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior, 
Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  and  sent  the  remain 
der  home  to  his  noble  father  to  be  distributed  in  the 
East.  This  horrible  outrage  and  massacre  by  the  In 
dians  was  soon  the  subject  of  editorial  comment  in  all 
the  leading  dalies  all  over  the  country.  The  conclusions 
generally  arrived  at  was,  "exterminate  the  whole 
tribe." 


36 


CHAPTER  III. 
A  WEST  POINTER'S  FIRST  SERVICE. 


IEITTENANT  BLAKE  was  waiting  at  the 
Causeland  House  for  orders.  He  Lad  never 
seen  any  actual  service,  but  his  West  Point 
training  showed  itself  in  the  general  panic. 
He  took  no  part  in  the  "citizens'  meeting,  and  when  a 
committee  waited  upon  him,  he  replied  that  he  could 
do  nothing,  not  even  give  advice,  until  he  received  or 
ders  from  his  commanding  officer.  The  committee  was 
disgusted  with  him.  They  unanimously  voted  him  a 
snob.  What  did  they  pay  taxes  to  educate  him  for,  if 
when  his  services  were  needed  and  the  whole  State  was 
in  danger,  he  could  not  even  lift  his  hand  or  open  his 
mouth.  They  didn't  believe  that  he  knew  enough  of 
military  tactics  to  drill  a  corporal's  guard,  etc.,  etc. 
Lieutenant  Blake  was  exceedingly  unpopular,  and  Cap 
tain  Perkins  was  held  in  the  highest  estimation. 

The  news  of  the  outbreak  soon  reached  Fort  Leav- 
enworth,  and  three  companies  of  cavalry  were  started 
up  the  river.  Lieutenant  Blake  was  temporarily  as 
signed 'to  duty  with  one  of  these  companies.  They  came 
up  the  river  on  steamboats,  and  landed  at  Council 
Bluffs  without  any  mishap.  Six  days  had  now  elapsed 
and  nothing  more  had  been  heard  of  the  Indians.  The 
commander  of  the  battalion,  Major  Hodson,  was  at  a 
loss  just  how  to  proceed.  It  was  evident  to  him  that 


A   WEST   POINTER'S    FIRST   SERVICE.  37 

the  raid  had  been  made  by  a  small  party  who  had  im 
mediately  gone  back  to  their  tribe.  There  were  some 
things  about  it  he  could  not  understand.  No  houses 

o 

had  been  burned.  No  stock  had  been  run  off.  Even 
the  horses  on  the  stage-coach  had  not  been  taken.  That 
was  not  the  way  Indians  generally  carried  on  war.  He 
resolved  to  send  out  a  scouting  party,  and  it  was  neces 
sary  to  employ  a  guide  who  was  acquainted  with  the 
country.  He  offered  the  place  to  Perkins,  but  that 
gentleman  declined. 

After  making  several  unsuccessful  attempts  to  get  a 
competent  scout  and  guide,  he  was  surprised  one  morn 
ing  to  see,  standing  before  his  tent,  Billy,  the  barkeeper 
of  the  Causeland  House. 

"  Major,"  said  Billy,  "  I  think  I  know  the  man  you 
want,  and  if  you  send  him  out  you  will  git  the  bottom 
facts  and  no  deceit.  This  Perkins,  who  is  cavortin' 
around  here,  is  a  cussed  coward,  and  the  biggest  liar  on 
earth.  If  it  wasn't  for  them  scalped  bodies  down  by 
the  stage-coach,  I'm  hanged  if  I  wouldn't  say  that  no 
Injuns  had  been  about  at  all,  but  that  fact  kind  o'  gitd 
me.  You  see  I  meets  a  good  many  hard  cases  up  at 
the  saloon  there,  and  I  hears  a  good  many  things.  That 
fellow  who  was  killed  down  at  Hickman's  wasn't  killed 
by  the  Injuns  at  all.  When  the  row  occurred  Bill  Shep 
herd  and  this  feller  Mike,  who  was  killed,  was  drunk? 
and  they  two  fit,  and  Mike  was  killed  and  thrown  out 
doors.  The  feller  who  was  stationed  to  guard  the  bar 
told  me  he  seed  it.  If  you  want  to  know  what  is  what 
about  this  business,  send  Captain  Jack.  He's  over  the 
river.  He  ain't  afeerd  of  nothing." 


38  .  j 

Major  Hodson  sent  for  Jack,  and  the  next  morning 
he  reported  for  duty.  A  detail  of  ten  men  was  made, 
and  Lieutenant  Blake  put  in  command.  The  orders 
Lieutenant  Blake  received  were  very  minute.  Besides 
the  general  instructions  to  scout  the  country  to  the  east 
of  the  Missouri  and  along  its  banks,  they  directed  him 
how  lie  should  approach  a  wood,  cross  a  stream,  and 
many  other  matters  of  the  smallest  detail,  the  command 
ing  officer  evidently  recognizing  that  this  was  the  Lieu 
tenant's  first  actual  service. 

Lieutenant  Blake  was  exceedingly  anxious  to  meet 
the  Indians.  He  marched  directly  down  the  river,  and 
the  first  day  made  forty  miles.  No  Indians  or  signs  of 
Indians  were  seen.  He  went  to  Hickman's,  but  no  new 
information  was  to  be  obtained  there,  and  the  second 
night,  after  thirty-live  miles  of  hard  marching,  camped 
under  the  bluffs  ten  miles  from  the  Missouri  river.  He 
was  very  much  disappointed.  Captain  Jack  had  obeyed 
every  order  and  answered  every  question,  but  made  no 
suggestions.  At  Hickman's  Jack  met  the  whilom  cap 
tain  of  a  night,  and  got  all  the  information  possible 
from  him. 

After  the  guard  was  stationed,  Lieutenant  Blake 
seated  himself  by  the  fire.  Jack  walked  past  him  and 
said: 

"  Lieutenant,  don't  you  think  it's  a  leetle  risky  set 
ting  there  in  the  light  of  that  fire,  that  is,  providin' 
there's  any  red  skins  around  ?" 

"  I  hadn't  thought  of  it,"  replied  Lieutenant  Blake. 

"  I  didn't  think  of  it  nuther,  until  I.  got  a  bullet 
through  this  shoulder,  but  since  that  time  I  generally 


A  WEST  POINTER'S  FIRST  SERVICE.  39 

think  of  it  when  I'm  out  on  a  scout.  But  I  don't 
think  there's  any  danger  here.  I  don't  believe  there's 
an  Injun  on  this  side  of  the  river ;  but  then  you  know 
there's  no  use  of  running  risks  when  you  can't  gain  ary 
thing  by  it." 

Lieutenant  Blake  walked  away  from  the  fire,  spread 
out  a  blanket,  half  reclined  on  his  saddle,  and  went  into 
a  fit  of  abstraction.  Sometime  afterward  he  called  Jack 
to  him,  and  addressing  him,  said  : 

"  Yon  said,  awhile  ago,  you  didn't  believe  there 
were  any  Indians  this  side  of  the  river.  What  makes 
you  think  that  ?" 

"  Lieutenant,"  said  Jack,  "  I'll  obey  any  order  you 
may  give  me.  I'll  show  you  the  shortest  and  best  way 
to  any  point  in  this  part  of  the  country,  but  when  it 
comes  to  givin'  opinions  I  ain't  thar.  That  remark 
slipped  out  by  accident." 

"  But  there  is  no  harm  in  giving  an  opinion  when 
you  are  asked.  Then  I  can  adopt  it  or  not,  as  I  may 
choose." 

"  Well,  I  don't  know  anything  for  sartin'  about  this 
ere  business.  I  have  my  suspicions  ;  that's  all.  But  if 
you  want  to  know,  I  can  find  out.  I  know  jest  where 
to  get  sich  information.  Now,  if  you  say  so,  I'll  go 
and  find  out." 

"  Where  will  you  get  all  this  information  ?  You 
surprise  me." 

"  I'll  git  it  of  the  Injuns  themselves." 

"  You  don't  mean  to  say  that  you  know  where  these 
Indians  are  ?" 

"  Sartinly  I  do." 


40 

"  Why  didn't  you  guide  me  to  them,  then  ?"  said 
Blake,  in  a  curt  tone. 

"  Now  you  see  what  comes  of  havin'  opinions.  A 
feller  who  is  under  orders  never  oughter  have  opinions, 
and  it  was  only  because  you  spoke  in  a  friendly  sort  of 
way  that  I  had  any." 

"  I  beg  your  pardon,"  said  Lieutenant  Blake.  "  I 
should  have  inquired  of  you  before.  Now,  if  you 
will  tell  me  where  these  Indians  ere,  I  will  instruct  you 
to  guide  me  to  them." 

"  You  can't  do  that,  for  our  orders  are  to  stay  on  the 
east  side  of  the  river,  and  every  blasted  one  of  'em  is 
on  the  other  side.  And  now  I  am  in  the  '  opinion ' 
business  I  might  as  well  let  go  another.  I  hadn't  no 
idea  you  wanted  to  find  Injuns,  or  rather.  I  thought  the 
Major  didn't  want  us  to  find  any,  for  if  he  had,  he'd 
have  sent  us  where  they  are.  He  knowed  mighty  well 
there  wasn't  no  Injuns  on  this  side  of  the  river.  Do 
you  suppose  an  old  officer  like  him  would  have  sent 
ten  men  out,  all  alone,  where  there  was  Injuns?  I 
calkerlate  not.  No,  I've  heard  all  these  stories,  and  to 
be  honest,  I  don't  believe  a  word  of  'em.  Leastwise, 
more'n  half  is  lies.  Now,  Lieutenant,  if  you  really 
want  to  know  all  about  this  ere  business,  I'll  go  and 
find  out.  I'll  be  back  by  three  o'clock  to-morrer,  and 
we  can  git  back  to  the  Bluffs  by  sundown,  and  you  can 
make  your  report." 

"  Tell  me  where  these  Indians  are,"  said  the  Lieu 
tenant. 

"  They're  across  the  river." 

"  Do  you  propose  to  go  over  there  alone  f ' 


A  WEST  POINTER'S  FIRST  SERVICE.  41 

"  Sartinly." 

«  They'll  murder  you." 

"  Don't  you  be  anxious  about  that.  I  tell  you  I'll 
be  back  here  by  three  o'clock  to-inorrer." 

This  was  a  new  idea  to  Lieutenant  Blake,  and  he 
sat  and  thought  over  it  for  some  minutes.  Then,  with 
out  saying  another  word  to  Jack,  he  ordered  the  men 
to  break  camp  and  march  immediately.  When  the 
men  were  in  the  saddle  he  said  to  Jack : 

"  You  will  guide  us  by  the  best  route  to  the  bank  of 
the  river  opposite  where  these  Indians  are." 

The  command  proceeded  at  a  trot,  with  Jack  in  the 
lead.  Three  hours  afterward,  they  came  out  on  the 
bawk  of  the  river. 

"  There,"  said  Jack,  pointing  to  the  dim  outline  of 
the  hills  on  the  other  side,  "  camped  under  them  hills 
is  the  band  of  Injuns  who  were  at  Hickman's  the  night 
the  trouble  commenced." 

"  I  do  not  want  to  order  you  to  go  over  there.  I 
do  not  think  I  have  authority  to  do  so  under  my 
orders,  but  it  is  your  own  proposition.  I  give  you 
permission  to  go  if  you  desire  to.  I  will  camp  here 
and  await  your  return  until  three  o'clock  to-morrow. 
But  how  are  you  to  get  across  the  river  ?" 

"  If  you'll  leave  yer  men  under  command  of  the 
Sergeant  and  go  with  me  about  a  mile  up-stream  I'll 
show  you,"  said  Jack. 

The  Lieutenant  would  not  do  that,  but  he  took  his 
whole  command  up  to  the  point  indicated.  Arriving 
there,  Jack  took  off  his  clothes,  except  his  shirt  and 
leggins.  He  then  unsaddled  his  horse,  and  handing 


42  j 

over  his  arms  and  accouterments  to  the  Lieutenant, 
drove  his  horse  into  the  river,  taking  hold  of  the 
horse's  tail  with  one  hand  and  swimming  with  the 
other.  By  this  means  he  could  keep  the  horse's  head  in 
any  direction  he  desired.  He  was  soon  lost  to  sight  in 
the  dim  starlight.  Lieutenant  Blake  watched  this 
performance  with  intense  interest.  He  stood  gazing 
over  the  water  for  some  time  in  silence,  then  turned 
and  gave  the  necessary  orders  for  the  disposition  of  his 
little  force  for  the  remainder  of  the  night. 

Jack's  horse  plunged  forward  through  the  muddy 
water,  the  rapid  current  bearing  them  down  the  stream 
one  yard  for  every  yard  they  advanced.  On  and  on 
the  horse  swam,  through  the  eddying,  gurgling 
waters,  to  a  sand-bar  in  the  middle  of  the  stream,  then 
walking  across  the  sand-bar  and  swimming  the  other 
arm  of  the  river,  they  reached  the  shore.  The  bank 
was  perpendicular,  and  Jack  turned  the  horse's  head 
down  stream  until  he  found  a  place  where  he  could 
emerge  in  safety.  Having  fastened  his  horse  in  the 
willows  near  the  shore,  Jack  started  on  foot  for  the 
camp,  which  was  more  than  a  mile  away. 

When  some  distance  from  the  village  he  came  upon 
a  lot  of  ponies  picketed  out.  He  passed  through  these 
as  quickly  as  possible,  as  they  reared,  plunged  and 
neighed  the  moment  he  came  near  them.  The  tents 
of  the  village  were  in  a  semicircle  at  the  foot  of  the 
hills.  A  hundred  dogs,  all,  as  at  a  given  signal,  set  up 
a  hideous  yelping  and  barking,  and  numerous  heads 
were  thrust  out  from  the  tents  to  see  what  was  the 
matter. 


43 

Without  looking  to  the  right  or  the  left,  Jack 
walked  straight  forward  until  he  was  in  front  of  one  of 
the  tents.  Any  other  course  would  have  been  death. 
If  he  had  made  the  slightest  motion,  as  if  to  conceal 
himself,  a  dozen  arrows  would  have  penetrated  his 
body. 

Standing  in  front  of  the  tent,  he  said,  in  the  Indian 
language,  "I  am  a  white  man.  I  am  a  friend.  I 
bring  important  news.  I  must  tell  it  to  the  chief." 

A  brown  hand  was  stretched  out  and  clasped 
Jack's.  Indians  never  shake  hands  with  one  another, 
but  they  all  know  that  that  is  a  sign  of  friendship 
among  the  whites.  To  an  Indian,  the  sight  of  two  men 
shaking  hands  is  the  most  ridiculous  thing  in  the  world. 
The  flap  of  the  tent  was  thrown  back,  and  the  Indian 
led  Jack  in.  An  Indian  woman  raked  •  over  the  few 
embers  in  the  center  of  the  tent,  threw  on  some  dry 
sticks,  and  a  bright  blaze  sprung  up. 

Jack  had  been  on  the  frontier  nearly  all  his  life. 
He  had  been  in  all  kinds  of  trying  circumstances,  but 
the  scene  that  met  his  eyes,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
tent,  came  nearer  unnerving  him  than  anything  which 
had  ever  happened  in  all  his  life  before.  Lying  on  a 
buffalo  robe  was  a  fair-haired  white  girl.  Her  cheeks 
were  flushed  with  fever.  Her  neck  and  arms  were 
bare,  and  her  eyes  had  a  wild  look  in  them.  She  did 
not  seem  to  notice  him.  With  every  breath,  a  low, 
murmuring  moan  escaped  her  lips. 

A  thousand  thoughts  seemed  to  rush  into  Jack's 
head  all  at  once. 

"  These  Indians  have  done  this  devilish  deed.  Theie 


44: 


is  a  captive  white  woman  they  have  taken.  She  has 
lost  her  mind  through  fright  and  abuse,  and  here  I  am 
in  the  heart  of  this  camp  without  arms." 

But  while  these  and  ten  thousand  other  thoughts 
were  coursing  through  Jack's  brain,  not  a  muscle  of  his 
face  moved.  To  all  outward  appearances  he  was  per 
fectly  calm. 

It  is  strange  how  rapidly  the  mind  works  under 
such  circumstances  as  these.  In  less  than  three  minutes 
Jack  thought  over  how  these  Indians  had  crossed  the 
river,  then,  enraged  at  losing  their  money  gambling 
with  Perkins,  and  excited  by  whisky,  had  first  assault 
ed  him  and  then  Hickman's.  Perhaps  some  of  their 
number  had  been  killed  by  shots  from  the  house,  and 
their  relations  had  in  revenge  attacked  the  stage-coach. 
In  those  same  minutes  he  had  planned  at  least  half  a 
dozen  different  modes  of  escape. 

One  by  one  the  leading  men  of  the  tribe  came  in  and 
seated  themselves  around  the  fire,  until  at  least  a  dozen 
were  present.  Then  they  lighted  a  pipe,  and  after  giv 
ing  it  a  few  puffs  passed  it  to  Jack.  Jack  smoked  the 
pipe  and  passed  it  to  the  next  one.  Not  a  wTord  was 
spoken  until  it  had  passed  all  around  the  circle.  Then 
the  chief  arose,  came  across  to  Jack  and  shook  hands, 
and  retreated  to  his  former  position.  It  was  a  full  min 
ute  after  that  before  he  said  a  word.  Then  he  spoke 
as  follows : 

"  My  friend,  we  are  glad  you  have  come.  We  have 
known  you  in  the  past ;  we  know  that  you  are  our 
friend.  We  seem  to  be  wandering  in  the  night,  and 
there  is  a  deep  precipice  every  way  we  turn.  We  want 


45 

a  guide  to  show  us  the  right  way.  We  fear  the  white 
people  are  angry  with  us.  We  want  to  be  friends  of 
the  whites.  My  young  men  are  foolish.  The  fire-wa 
ter  of  the  white  man  took  away  their  sense.  They 
have  done  wrong.  My  friend,  have  pity  on  us.  Tell 
the  white  people  I  will  give  them  fifty  ponies  for  the 
wrong  my  young  men  have  done.  We  will  give  them 
part  of  our  country  here.  We  will  be  their  friends. 
When  the  bad  Indians  from  the  north  come  to  fight 
them,  I  will  give  them  my  young  men  to  go  on  the  war 
path.  But  for  us,  we  will  live  in  peace  together.  We 
will  be  friends  forever.  I  hear  the  Great  Father  has 
sent  his  soldiers  to  kill  us.  My  friend,  tell  us  if  this  is 
so." 

"  You  lying,  treacherous  old  hypocrite,"  thought 
Jack,  but  he  did  not  say  so  by  any  means.  He  did  not 
say  anything.  He  pointed  with  a  steady  finger  at  the 
white  girl  lying  on  the  buffalo  robe.  After  some  min 
utes,  during  which  the  pipe  was  passed  around  again, 
another  Indian  arose,  shook  hands  with  Jack,  and  spoke 
as  follows  : 

"  My  friend,  I  shake  hands  with  you,  not  only  with 
my  hand  but  with  my  heart.  It  was  midnight  when 
you  came,  but  when  you  opened  the  door  of  my  tent 
the  sun  shone  in.  Some  of  our  young  men  did  wrong. 
We  are  sorry.  We  are  willing  they  should  be  punished. 

We "  Then  the  Indian  hesitated  and  Jack  arose 

to  his  feet.  He  shook  hands  with  all  present,  and  said  : 

"  I  can  only  stay  a  few  minutes.  The  night  is  now 
far  spent,  and  you  must  talk  quick.  I  can't  wait.  I 
don't  understand  what  you  mean.  I  want  to  know 


46  A  WEST  POINTER'S  FIRST  SERVICE. 

where  you  captured  that  white  woman,  and  who  it  was 
that  murdered  the  people  in  the  stage-coach.  I  know 
about  the  trouble  at  Hickman's,  you  need  not  tell  me 
about  that.  But  this  murder  of  the  people  in  the  stage 
coach  and  having  that  white  girl  here,  is  very  bad. 
What  have  you  got  to  say  about  these  things  ?" 

The  chief  said,  "  I  know  nothing  about  anybody 
being  killed.  I  never  heard  of  it  before.  My  young 
men " 

"  Tell  me  the  truth,"  said  Jack.  "  To  talk  with  a 
double  tongue  will  do  no  good." 

"  It  is  night  now,"  said  the  chief,  "  but  the  Great 
Holy  One  (Wa-Kan-tanka)  sees  in  the  night  as  in  the 
day.  He  knows  I  tell  the  truth.  I  did  not  know  that 
any  one  was  killed.  The  next  day  after  we  came  over 
the  river,  one  of  our  young  men  walked  by  the  river's 
side.  He  saw  something  in  the  river,  and  somebody 
holding  to  it.  He  swam  out.  It  was  this  white 
woman.  When  she  saw  the  Indian  she  was  afraid  and 
let  go.  She  sank  down  in  the  water,  and  he  dove  down 
and  took  hold  of  her.  Then  he  took  hold  of  the  thing 
she  was  floating  on,  and  called  for  help.  Some,  who 
were  fishing,  heard  him,  and  went  in  a  canoe  and 
brought  them  ashore.  She  has  been  sick  ever  since." 

To  prove  that  what  he  said  was  true,  he  sent  out  and 
had  the  thing  on  which  the  girl  was  floating  brought  in. 
It  was  the  driver's  seat  and  part  of  the  top  of  the  stage 
coach. 

The  whole  thing  was  plain  to  Jack  now.  The  In 
dians  had  told  him  the  truth.  Instead  of  murdering 


4:7 

anybody  they  had  saved  this  girl's  life.  He  spoke  to 
them  as  follows  : 

"  I  believe  you  have  told  me  the  truth.  I  will  do 
all  I  can  to  help  you.  You  have  asked  me  to  help  you. 
I  do  not  say  that  I  can,  but  I  will  try.  But  you  must 
do  what  I  tell  you  to  do.  If  you  promise  me  that,  I 
will  be  your  friend." 

"  We  will  do  as  our  friend  desires,"  said  the  chief. 

The  Indian  woman  threw  another  handful  of  sticks 
on  the  fire.  The  blaze  flashed  up  and  lighted  every 
thing  in  the  tent.  Jack  went  over  to  the  side  of  the 
girl.  The  fever  had  gone  down  and  she  seemed  to  be 
asleep.  The  Indians  departed  one  by  one,  and  Jack 
went  outside  the  tent.  Great  red  streaks  were  shoot 
ing  up  from  the  eastern  sky.  A  thousand  birds  in  the 
branches  of  the  trees  burst  forth  into  song.  The  open 
stretch  of  prairie  in  front  was  covered  with  flowers. 
Young  rabbits  were  playing  in  and  out  of  the  edge  of 
the  tall  grass.  The  ponies  were  feeding  leisurely  at 
the  end  of  their  lariats.  Down  near  the  mouth  of  the 
Platte  were  two  or  three  tents,  and  a  wreath  of  smoke 
was  curling  out  at  the  top  of  one.  To  the  west,  up  the 
Platte,  was  a  small  herd  of  buffalo.  In  a  moment  the 
sun  touched  the  tops  of  the  tall  timber  on  the  eastern 
side  of  the  Missouri  river,  and  then  burst  upon  the 
circle  of  tents  wrhere  Jack  stood.  All  was  stillness 
around  him.  Even  the  dogs  were  quiet.  Then  one 
by  one  the  flaps  of  the  tents  were  thrown  back  and  the 
village  began  to  stir.  Camp-kettles  were  swung  over 
the  fires,  which  were  made  out  of  doors,  and  the  women 
began  to  cook.  Jack  stood  still  for  a  long  time  medi- 


48  A  WEST  POINTER'S  FIKST  SERVICE. 

tating.     He  was   awakened  by   hearing  a  low,  sweet 
voice  say,     "  How  came  I  here  ?" 

In  a  moment  he  was  inside  the  tent.  He  knelt 
beside  the* young  girl,  who  looked  at  him  wonderingly 
He  took  hold  of  her  hand  and  felt  her  pulse. 

"  I  am  a  doctor,"  he  said,  "  and  I  have  come  to  see 
what  I  can  do  for  you.  You  have  been  very,  very  sick, 
but  }^ou  are  better  now.  These  people  here  are  kind- 
hearted,  and  no  one  will  harm  you.  You  must  have 
something  to  eat.  I  will  have  it  sent  to  you  right  away." 

Jack  was  about  to  rise  when  for  the  first  time  he 
thought  of  the  scantiness  of  his  costume.  Instead  of 
rising  he  gradually  sank  lower  and  lower.  He  glanced 
around  him.  At  the  other  side  of  the  tent  was  a 
blanket.  An  Indian  girl  was  sitting  at  the  head  of  the 
white  girl,  watching  her.  She  took  in  the  situation, 
arose  and  handed  Jack  the  blanket ;  he  wrapped  it 
around  him  and  walked  out  of  the  tent.  He  was 
about  to  request  some  one  to  prepare  some  food  for 
the  sick  girl  when  he  noticed  an  Indian  girl  coming 
toward  him  with  something  smoking  hot  in  a  wooden 
bowl.  In  a  moment  they  recognized  each  other.  It 
was  the  one  he  had  rescued  from  Perkins.  She  hung 
her  head  in  bashfulness,  but  he  walked  up  to  her,  took 
her  hand  and  said  he  was  glad  to  see  her,  and  for  want 
of  anything  else  to  say  asked  her  where  her  husband 
was. 

"  I  am  not  married,"  she  said. 

' '  Not  married  !  Then  whose  baby  was  that  you 
had  with  you  ?" 

"  That  was  my  little  sister." 


A  WEST  POINTER'S  FIRST  SERVICE.  49 

"  What  is  it  you  have  in  your  bowl  ?" 

"  It  is  stewed  quail.  I  have  made  some  every  day 
for  the  white  girl,  but  she  will  eat  nothing.  Some 
times  I  put  the  soup  in  her  mouth  and  then  she 
swallows.  I  made  this  last  night  and  have  just  made  it 
hot." 

Meha  passed  into  the  tent,  sat  down  beside  the  sick 
girl,  took  a  spoon  and  offered  her  some  of  the  food. 
When  she  had  swallowed  it,  she  reached  out  her  small, 
thin,  white  hand  for  more.  Meha  smiled  and  said  the 
only  English  words  she  knew,  "  Good,  good." 

"How  long  have  I  been  here,"  asked  the  invalid. 

"  Good,"  answered  Meha,  offering  her  some  more 
of  the  quail,  and  then  she  put  her  hand  over  her 
mouth  in  token  that  she  must  not  talk. 

A  sharp  shrill  scream  broke  over  the  gentle  murmur 
of  the  camp.  Then  another  and  another,  and  then  all 
was  still.  Jack  rushed  into  the  tent.  Meha  was  crying 
and  holding  the  hand  of  the  white  girl,  whose  face  was 
pallid  as  death,  and  her  eyes  glazed  and  still.  She  had 
fainted. 

"  Bring  me  water,"  said  Jack. 

Meha  ran  out  and  in  a  twinkling  came  back  with  a 
calabash  full  of  water.  Jack  dashed  handful  after 
handful  in  her  face,  yet  there  was  no  sign  of  returning 
consciousness.  He  bound  her  arm  and  opened  a  vein, 
but  the  blood  refused  to  flow.  The  tent  was  full  of 
Indians,  an  old  woman  among  them.  She  caught  the 
girl  by  her  feet,  and  by  main  force  held  her  up,  head 
down.  The  blood  rushed  back  to  the  brain  and  she 
3 


50  A 

immediately  revived.  She  attempted  to  speak,  but 
Jack  said : 

"  Don't  try  to  talk  now.  I  know  all  about  it.  You 
think  all  the  people  in  the  stage  were  murdered  by 
Indians,  and  that  you  are  here  a  captive.  I  am  con 
vinced  that  it  was  white  men  who  did  that  bloody  deed. 
These  Indians  are  kind-hearted  ;  they  will  not  hurt  you. 
Look  at  this  one,  little  Meha,  she  is  crying  because  you 
are  so  sick.  You  must  be  quiet  and  not  afraid,  until 
you  get  well  enough  for  me  to  take  you  away  to  your 
friends." 

"  I  don't  know  what  made  me  scream  that  way,"  said 
the  girl,  "  but  it  all  flashed  over  rne  at  once,  and — " 

"There,  there,"  said  Jack,  "you  know  I  said  you 
mustn't  talk  yet  awhile.  I  will  come  and  see  you  again 
soon ;  in  an  hour  or  so.  Meantime,  Meha  will  take 
care  of  you." 

Jack  went  out  of  the  tent  again.  He  intended  to  take 
the  girl  with  him  back  to  Council  Bluffs.  This  terrible 
fainting  spell  had  rather  upset  his  calculations.  He  was 
afraid,  in  her  present  weak  state,  she  would  not  be  able 
to  go.  To  leave  her  alone  in  that  Indian  camp  seemed 
terrible.  He  must  get  back  to  Lieutenant  Blake's 
camp  by  three  o'clock  or  serious  complications  might 
arise.  He  could  stay  there  until  noon,  and  perhaps  by 
that  time  she  would  be  better.  An  Indian  went  down 
into  the  willows  and  took  Jack's  horse  and  picketed  it 
out  to  feed.  An  Indian  woman  brought  Jack  his 
breakfast.  She  tried  her  best  to  make  it  just  like  the 
white  people.  From  one  of  the  packs,  made  of  hard- 
tanned  buffalo  hide,  she  took  out  a  plate  and  knife  and 


51 

fork.  She  took  a  piece  of  fine  board  (one  of  her 
treasures)  about  eighteen  inches  square,  spread  over  it  a 
piece  of  white  cloth,  placed  the  plate,  knife  and  fork 
and  tin  cup  on  it,  and  then  brought  it  and  put  it  in  front 
of  Jack.  Then  she  brought  the  food  itself.  It  was 
soup  made  of  dried  buffalo  meat.  Before  it  is  cooked 
this  meat  is  black  and  hard  as  a  stone.  It  is  prepared 
by  cutting  the  flesh  into  strips,  three  or  four  inches 
wide,  ten  or  twelve  long,  and  about  half  an  inch  thick. 
It  is  then  dried  in  the  sun.  The  soup  made  from  it  is 
delicious.  What  took  the  place  of  bread  was  corn, 
which  had  first  been  parched  and  then  pounded  fine. 
Jack  was  also  treated  to  a  whole  cupful  of  "black 
medicine,"  i.  e.  coffee,  which  the  woman  had  saved  up  for 
some  extra  occasion.  She  gave  him  the  very  best  she 
had. 

After  breakfast  Jack  had  another  talk  with  the 
Indians.  He  told  them  that  he  would  return  and  in 
form  the  military  commander  what  they  had  said  to 
him  and  lay  before  them  all  of  the  facts,  and  would 
come  or  send  them  word  of  what  had  happened. 

About  eleven  o'clock  they  made  a  litter  to  carry  the 
white  girl  on,  of  the  kind  on  which  the  Indians  carry 
their  wounded.  Two  long  tent-poles  are  fastened  to 
a  pony,  reaching  out  far  behind.  Between  these  is 
stretched  a  buffalo  hide,  and  on  the  hide  is  laid  the  per 
son.  The  poles,  being  elastic,  act  as  springs.  It  is  rather 
a  rough  way  to  ride,  but  for  one  who  could  not  sit  on  a 
horse  it  was  their  next  best  mode  of  conveyance.  The 
girl  was  brought  out  and  a  start  was  made  for  the  river. 
Fainting  fits  came  on,  and  these  were  continued  until 


52 

Jack  had  to  give  it  up.  He  feared  she  would  die 
before  she  got  across  the  river.  She  was  carried 
tenderly  back  to  the  tent,  and  Jack  told  her  that  he 
must  go,  but  he  would  either  come  or  send  her  help  the 
next  day,  and  bid  her  be  of  good  cheer,  for  she  was 
perfectly  safe.  He  then  returned  to  the  river,  a  canoe 
was  provided,  Jack  swam  his  horse  beside  it  and  an 
Indian  paddled  him  over. 

It  was  only  one  o'clock  when  Jack  reported  to 
Lieutenant  Blake.  A  few  minutes  after  the  report 
was  made  the  command  was  on  the  march  for  Council 
Bluffs,  where  they  arrived  a  little  before  sundown. 
Lieutenant  Blake  made  a  verbal  report  to  Major 
Hodson,  who  requested  him  to  write  it  out  in  full  that 
night  and  submit  it  to  him  in  the  morning.  On  going 
up  into  town  Jack  was  surprised  to  find  a  very  large 
number  of  strangers.  There  were  eight  or  ten  army 
and  Indian  supply  contractors.  A  large  train  of  empty 
wagons  was  corralled  a  little  out  of  town,  and  the 
teamsters  and  train  bosses  were  filling  the  saloons. 
Perkins  had  his  company  out  on  the  streets  drilling. 
There  were  two  or  three  Indian  commissioners  and  an 
inspector  at  the  Causeland  House.  The  town  was 
crowded  full,  and  business  was  "booming." 

Jack  had  seen  such  things  before.  It  was  the  hope 
of  an  Indian  war  which  had  drawn  them  together. 
After  making  the  round  of  the  saloons  and  seeing  the 
sights,  Jack  started  back  to  camp.  As  he  walked  down 
the  street  he  passed  a  small  frame  house,  containing  two 
rooms.  There  was  no  inclosure  around  the  house  and 
the  footpath  went  right  by  the  door.  A  small  woman 


A  WEST  POINTER'S  FIRST   SERVICE.  53 

stood  in  the  doorway.  She  had  a  lithe  figure,  as  per 
fect  as  was  ever  drawn  by  an  artist,  large  brown  eyes, 
delicately  formed  nose  and  mouth,  and  that  indefinable 
look  which  denotes  culture  and  refinement. 

"Why!  Captain  Jack!  is  that  you?"  The  voice 
was  as  soft  as  the  tones  of  a  JEolian  harp. 

Jack  looked  up  in  astonishment,  first  with  a  puzzled 
expression,  and  then  a  smile  spread  all  over  his  face. 

"  How  in  the  world,"  said  he,  "  came  you  here  ?" 

"  We  have  just  been  transferred  to  this  conference 
and  stationed  on  this  circuit.  I  am  so  glad  to  see  you. 
We  do  not  know  a  single  person  here." 

This  little  woman,  frail,  delicate,  refined  and  cul 
tured,  was  the  wife  of  the  Methodist  preacher.  Jack 
had  known  her  in  other  days.  Jack  went  in  and  sat 
down.  On  the  floor  was  a  new  rag  carpet.  There  was 
a  bed  in  one  corner.  The  other  furniture  consisted  of 
six  new  chairs,  a  small  table  and  a  book-shelf.  There 
were  not  more  than  a  dozen  books  in  all.  There  was 
Watson's  Institutes,  Bledsoe's  Theodacy,  Upham's  Men 
tal  Philosophy,  two  bound  volumes  of  the  Ladies'  Re 
pository,  and  Cruden's  Concordance. 

On  the  table  was  a  large  family  Bible,  and  beside  it 
was  a  well-worn  copy  of  a  French  New  Testament. 
The  other  room  had  no  carpet.  It  contained  a  cooking- 
stove,  table,  cupboard  and  two  or  three  chairs. 

"You  should  never  have  come  here,"  said  Jack, 
"  this  is  no  country  for  a  lady  like  you." 

"  Oh,  Jack,  you  ought  not  to  discourage  me.  I 
have  been  so  brave.  I  think  you  ought  to  compliment 
me.  When  William  concluded  to  enter  the  ministry, 


54  A  WEST  POINTER'S   FIRST  SERVICE. 

(lie  would  not  have  done  it,  if  it  had  not  been  for  me), 
he  said  that  he  would  go  where  preachers  were  needed, 
and  not  stay  where  there  were  two  preachers  for  every 
pulpit.  So  we  came  first  to  the  Illinois  conference  and 
then  here.  1  am  glad  we  have  come,  for  this  is  a  very 
wicked  place,  and  we  will  have  opportunities  to  do  a 
great  deal  of  good.  He  hasn't  been  able  to  get  any 
place  to  preach  in  yet.  Oh !  there  he  comes  now.  He 
will  be  so  glad  to  see  you,"  and  she  ran  to  the  door, 
every  nerve  quivering  with  delight,  to  meet  her  loved 
one. 

Rev.  Mr.  Parkman  walked  in  and  shook  hands  with 
Jack.  He  did  not  look  like  the  typical  minister.  He 
was  tall  and  muscular,  and  had  an  intelligent  counte 
nance.  By  nature  he  was  generous  and  tender-hearted. 
He  was  glad  to  meet  Jack,  not  only  "  for  old  acquaint 
ance'  sake,"  but  he  was  extremely  anxious  to  get  the 
news.  Just  as  Jack  had  got  to  the  point  where  he  had 
found  the  white  girl  in  the  Indian  camp,  a  neighbor 
woman  came  in  and  heard  the  remainder  of  it.  When 
Jack  described  how  sick  the  poor  girl  was,  and  how  he 
was  forced  to  leave  her  all  alone  in  the  Indian  camp,  a 
firm  look  came  into  the  little  woman's  face,  such  as  one 
might  imagine  the  martyrs  had  when  they  walked  up 
to  the  stake. 

"  William,"  she  said,  "  I  think  it  is  our  duty  to  go 
to  this  poor  girl.  She  may  be  dying,  with  no  one  to 
pray  for  her,  or  to  say  a  word  of  hope  as  she  goes  down 
into  the  cold  river." 

Tears  stood  in  Mr.  Parkman's  eyes,  but  there  were 
none  in  those  of  his  little  wife. 


55 

"  Medie,"  he  said,  "  I  will  go  to  her ;  I  will  start  to 
night." 

"  I  will  go  too,"  she  said. 

"Yon  go?  Why,  my  little  darling,  it  is  impossi 
ble.  Go  into  an  Indian  camp  in  time  of  war  ?" 

"  This  sick  girl  needs  the  sympathy  and  care  of  a 
woman.  It  is  my  duty  to  go.  God  will  take  care  of 
me." 

It  was  no  use  to  argue  with  her.  There  was  some 
thing  about  her  that  could  not  be  argued  with.  There 
are  some  women  who  never  demand  anything,  who 
never  command  anybody,  who  seem  utterly  weak,  and 
yet  strong  men  bow  before  them,  their  wills  are  subser 
vient  to  hers,  and  they  seek  to  know  her  wishes  that 
they  may  take  delight  in  complying  with  them.  Such 
women  wield  a  power  greater  than  the  most  deter 
mined  purpose  of  the  strongest  minds.  They  make 
abject  slaves  of  men,  and  men  enjoy  the  slavery.  When 
behind  this  indescribable  power  a  woman  has  a  holy 
purpose,  the  good  she  can  accomplish  cannot  be  esti 
mated.  Such  a  power  had  Mrs.  Parkman. 

It  was  decided  that  she  should  go,  and  they  would 
start  at  twelve  o'clock  midnight.  Jack  first  went  to 
camp  and  got  leave  of  absence  from  Major  Hodson.  He 
then  went  to  town  for  some  medical  supplies,  and  at  the 
appointed  time  rode  up  to  Mr.  Parkman's  door.  Two 
horses  were  standing  there,  one  with  a  side-saddle  on 
In  a  moment  more  Mr.  Parkman  and  his  wife  came  out. 
He  reached  out  his  hand,  she  placed  a  tiny  foot  in  it 
and  vaulted  into  the  saddle.  For  some  miles  the  bot 
tom  was  prairie,  and  they  followed  an  Indian  trail  in 


56  A  WEST  POINTER'S   FIRST   SERVICE. 

single  file,  much  of  the  time  in  a  slow  gallop.  Mrs. 
Parkman  sat  in  that  saddle  apparently  as  easy  as  in  a 
rocking-chair.  On  and  on  they  rode,  mile  after  mile, 
and  just  at  dawn  of  day  they  came  out  on  the  bank  of 
the  river  opposite  the  Indian  camp. 

Indians  have  what  is  called  the  sign  language, 
which  is  common  to  a  large  number  of  tribes  speaking 
different  languages.  This  sign-talking  is  so  far  de 
veloped  that  common  barter  and  trade  can  be  carried 
on,  and  intelligence  of  startling  events,  such  as  war,  or 
an  intended  visit  by  another  tribe,  can  be  expressed  by 
means  of  it.  They  also  have  a  code  of  signals.  These 
signals  are  different  among  different  tribes.  They  are 
made  by  swinging  a  blanket. 

Jack  climbed  up  in  a  tree  which  stood  on  the  bank 
of  the  river,  and  commenced  to  make  signals.  He 
kept  this  np  quite  awhile  before  he  attracted  the  atten 
tion  of  the  Indians.  At  last  he  was  rewarded  by  an 
answer.  Soon  after  a  canoe  shot  out  from  the  shore 
and  made  straight  across  the  river  to  where  the  party 
stood.  An  hour  afterward  they  were  all  safe  in  the 
Indian  camp.  Mrs.  Parkman  sat  down  by  the  side  of 
the  sick  girl.  The  sides  of  the  tent  were  raised  to  let 
the  cool  wind  pass  through.  Mr.  Parkman  walked 
around  and  looked  into  the  tents.  lie  had  a  great 
longing  to  preach  to  them,  but  not  one  word  of  his 
language  could  they  understand.  After  awhile  a  few 
of  them  gathered  together  and  he  asked  Jack  to 
interpret  for  him. 

"  I  can't  interpret  a  sermon,"  said  Jack.  "  I  might 
make  some  miss,  and  send  them  all  to  hell  by  it.  If 


A  WEST  POINTER'S  FIRST  SERVICE.  57 

your  doctrine  is  true,  and  I  suppose  it  is,  it's  too  big  a 
responsibility  for  me  to  undertake.  I'll  tell  you  what 
I'll  do.  I'll  preach  them  a  little  sermon  myself,  and  I 
can  keep  inside  of  safe  lines  ;"  and  Jack  held  forth  as 
follows : 

"  This  man  is  a  teacher  about  God.  He  wants  to 
teach  you  the  way  to  some  happy  hunting-grounds  of 
which  you  never  heard.  He  thinks  you  can't  get  there 
unless  you  do  what  is  right.  He  knows  all  about  it.  It 
is  a  very  hard  thing  to  learn.  I  don't  know  much 
about  it  myself.  I  find  out  that  the  Great  Holy  One  of 
the  Indians  is  the  same  one  that  he  believes  in.  That 
little  woman  is  his  wife.  She  came  straight  from  the 
happy  hunting-grounds,  and  some  of  these  days  she's 
going  back.  She  knows  all  about  it,  because  she  has 
been  there.  I  don't  know  when  she  is  going  back. 
Maybe  to-morrow,  maybe  a  year,  maybe  five  years. 
But  she  is  going  back  there,  sure.  "When  you  leave 
your  camp  to  go  on  the  long  journey,  you  will  find  her 
at  the  end  of  it.  Now,  you  had  better  mind  how  you 
treat  her." 

"  There,"  said  Jack,  "  I've  told  them  all  about  it. 
If  they  mind  that  sermon  they'll  all  be  saved,  sure." 

One  of  the  Indians  walked  up  to  Mr.  Parkman, 
shook  hands,  and  fixed  himself  for  a  speech.  Of  all 
things,  Jack  hated  to  interpret.  So  he  told  the  Indian 
he  must  say  but  few  words  now.  He  must  wait  until 
after  the  preacher  spoke,  or  he  would  think  it  very  bad. 
The  preacher  would  speak  to-morrow.  So  the  Indian 
only  said,  "  We  are  glad  that  you  have  come.  We  will 
listen  to  all  the  words  you  have  to  say,  and  we  hope  it 
3* 


58  A    SECKET    COUNCIL. 

will  be  many  days  before  your  wife  goes  back  to  the 
happy  hunting-grounds." 

Jack  interpreted  it  as  follows  : 

"  He  says  he  is  glad  you  come.  He  will  adopt  your 
religion  immediately,  and  he  hopes  you  won't  send  your 
wife  off  to  the  happy  hunting-grounds  for  some  time 
yet." 

"  How  dreadful  is  the  lot  of  woman  among  the 
heathen  !"  thought  Mr.  Parkman.  "  That  poor  Indian 
thinks  I  am  liable  to  kill  my  wife  any  time,"  and  he 
made  a  note  of  it,  to  write  home  to  the  Missionary 
Journal.  Soon  after  Jack  left  the  camp  and  returned 
to  Council  Bluffs. 


CHAPTEE  IV. 

A   SECKET    COUNCIL. 

HE  population  of  Council  Bluffs  had  greatly 
increased  during  the  one  day  that  Jack  had 
been  absent.  The  overland  travel  had  been 
suspended.  All  sorts  of  stories  were  current 
of  the  atrocities  committed  by  Indians  on  the  main 
trail  westward,  and  there  was  a  general  demand  for  a 
thorough  campaign  against  the  savages.  Major  Hodson 
had  written  a  report  which  had  been  forwarded  to  the 
department  commander,  in  which  he  stated  his  belief 
that  the  robbery  of  the  stage-coach  had  been  committed 
by  white  men,  and  that  the  affair  at  Ilickman's  was  the 


A    SECRET    COUNCIL.  59 

result  of  a  gambling  row.  He  thought  there  was  no 
use  for  any  more  troops.  This  was  telegraphed  to 
Washington,  and  the  Commissioner  and  the  Secretary  of 
the  Interior  were  furnished  with  copies  of  the  report. 
A  commission  was  made  up  of  western  men  who 
resided  near  the  scene,  to  investigate  the  trouble.  Mean 
time  the  woman  who  had  heard  part  of  Jack's  story 
had  spread  the  news  over  the  town  that  the  Indians  had 
in  their  possession  a  captive  white  woman. 

When  the  commissioners  arrived  they  were  treated 
with  the  greatest  consideration  by  Perkins  and  the 
contractors.  They  held  their  first  session  in  the  town. 
The  first  witness  examined  before  them  was  the  man  who 
had  escaped  from  the  stage-coach.  He  testified  that  the 
coach  had  been  attacked  by  a  large  band  of  Indians,  and 
went  into  a  great  many  details,  most  of  which  were 
drawn  from  his  imagination.  Then  Perkins  and  two 
or  three  other  persons,  who  were  at  Hickman's  the 
night  of  the  trouble,  testified.  From  their  testimony  a 
very  bad  case  was  made  out.  Finally,  Harkins,  the 
young  surveyor,  who  commanded  on  the  night  of  the 
assault  on  Hickman's,  asked  to  be  heard.  He  told  a 
straightforward  story.  How  Perkins  had  acknowledged 
to  him  that  the  trouble  was  caused  by  gambling,  that 
the  man  found  dead  was  killed  in  the  house,  the  only 
damage  done  by  the  Indians  was  cutting  the  harness 
and  breaking  in  the  windows  of  the  store,  from  which 
they  had  taken  nothing,  and  that  they  left  immediately. 
He  thought  it  was  only  a  drunken  fracas,  which  was 
liable  to  happen  anywhere,  and  if  they  had  all  been 
white  men  nothing  would  have  ever  been  heard  of  it. 


60  A    SECRET    COUNCIL. 

Whoever  committed  the  murder  of  the  passengers  in  the 
stage-coach,  he  was  certain  that  it  was  not  this  band  of 
Indians,  for  he  had  followed  their  trail,  and  they  had 
gone  across  the  river.  lie  further  testified  that  he 
believed  Perkins  to  be  a  gambler,  and  utterly  unworthy 
of  belief. 

This  testimony  created  a  tremendous  uproar.  They 
said  he  was  interested  in  surveying  contracts,  and  was 
afraid  a  war  would  interfere  with  his  business.  The 
crowd  hooted  and  yelled  at  him  as  he  went  out,  and 
finally  he  had  to  flee  to  the  military  camp  for  protection. 

A  hot  discussion  arose  between  the  members  of  the 
commission.  Some  were  for  immediate  war  and  pun 
ishment  of  the  Indians.  One  opposed  it,  and  wanted 
further  testimony  taken.  It  was  finally  agreed  to  send 
for  Major  Hodson.  The  Major  didn't  believe  there 
was  any  necessity  for  a  war,  thought  that  the  people 
might  go  to  their  homes  in  safety,  travel  could  be 
resumed,  and  as  for  the  damage  done  at  Hickman's, 
the  chief  of  the  party  had  offered  to  make  full  restitu 
tion.  He  spoke  in  such  a  calm  and  determined  way, 
the  four  warriors  of  the  commission  were  inclined  to 
wait,  and  not  press  matters.  Things  took  a  decidedly 
peaceful  turn. 

Perkins,  the  contractors  and  speculators  of  all 
sorts,  were  at  a  loss  what  to  do.  That  night  the  most 
desperate  of  them  held  a  secret  council  in  a  private 
room  in  the  Causeland  House.  In  that  council  a  plan 
was  resolved  upon  to  bring  matters  to  a  crisis.  Just 
what  conversation  took  place  there  will  never  be  known, 
but  during  the  next  day  some  thirty  men  crossed  the 


A    SECRET    COUNCIL.  61 

ferry  to  the  western  side  of  the  river.  They  went  over 
three  or  four  at  a  time.  They  were  all  well  armed  and 
supplied.  Ten  miles  west  of  where  Omaha  now 
stands,  there  is  a  beautiful  grove,  called  Sahling's 
Grove.  In  this  grove  that  night  was  camped  a  large 
train.  The  stock  belonging  to  the  train  was  picketed 
on  the  prairie  near  by.  The  thirty  men  congregated 
about  a  mile  east  of  the  grove,  and  one  of  the  number 
crept  up  among  the  horses  and  cut  all  the  lariat  ropes. 
At  a  given  signal  the  thirty  men  dashed  down  on  the 
stock  and  they  stampeded  in  one  body  over  the  prairie 
to  the  South.  Before  dawn  they  were  thirty  miles 
away.  The  wagons  of  the  train  had  been  corralled  the 
night  before,  and  behind  them  the  men  belonging  to 
the  train  assembled  and  waited  for  daylight.  Then  a 
strong  guard  was  sent  on  foot  to  Council  Bluffs  for 
help.  The  news  that  the  Indians  were  murdering  and 
scalping  everybody  on  the  main  trail  was  carried 
through  the  town  and  it  seemed  that  all  went  mad  at 
once.  The  commissioners,  in  a  body,  called  on  Major 
Hodson  and  turned  over  all  the  Indians  to  the  south 
west  to  the  care  of  the  army. 

Captain  Jack  was  nonplussed.  Even  he  was  con 
vinced  that  the  Indians  had  gone  to  war.  His  first 
thought  was  of  Mr.  Parkman  and  the  two  women.  He 
saw  no  possible  way  to  save  them.  Major  Hodson 
immediately  moved  his  command  across  the  river,  and 
stationed  them  so  as  to  protect  the  settlements  and 
travel  on  the  main 'trail,  and  awaited  further  orders 
from  the  department  commander. 

The  commissioners  held  another  session,  and  em- 


62  A    SECRET    COUNCIL. 

^v  ;   v     ; 

ployed  a  lawyer  to  assist  them  in  prepariug-tLjQir-formal 
report.  They  laid  the  whole  case  before  him,  and 
asked  his  advice. 

Lawyer  "Wilmot  had  recently  arrived  from  the  East. 
He  had  graduated  at  Yale,  and  studied  law  with  one  of 
the  most  celebrated  lawyers  of  the  time,  one  who  was 
an  authority  on  constitutional  law.  The  advice  he  gave 
to  the  commissioners  was  something  different  from 
what  they  had  ever  heard  before.  Two  or  three  of 
them  had  served  on  many  Indian  commissions ;  in  fact, 
that  is  the  way  they  had  made  their  living  for  years. 
Wilmot  stood  before  them  with  a  huge  law  book  in  his 
hand,  and  said  : 

"  Neither  this  commission,  Major  Hodson,  the  de 
partment  commander,  the  General  of  the  army,  the 
Secretary  of  the  Interior,  nor  the  President,  has  any 
legal  authority  to  declare  war  against  these  or  any  other 
Indians.  The  Constitution  of  the  United  States  has 
placed  the  authority  to  declare  war  in  another  depart 
ment  of  the  Government.  It  has  done  this  in  terms  so 
plain  that  no  other  meaning  can  be  attached  to  them. 
Section  8  of  article  I.  of  the  Constitution  reads  as 
follows :  '  Congress  shall  have  power  to  declare  war, 
grant  letters  of  marque  and  reprisal,  and  make  rules 
concerning  captures  on  land  and  sea.' 

"  The  power  to  declare  war  rests  in  Congress,  and 
Congress  alone.  Expeditions  carried  on  under  any 
other  authority  are  not  war.  They  are  wholly  illegal, 
and  every  life  taken  under  such  circumstances  is  mur 
der.  If  the  Indian  tribes  are  mutinous,  Congress  must 
give  the  authority  to  wage  war  upon  them.  If  they 


63 


are  not  mutinouo,  your  only  legal  way  to  proceed  is  to  is 
sue  warrants  for  the  arrest  of  the  supposed  criminals. 
If  the  officer  in  whose  hands  they  are  placed  is  unable 
to  make  the  arrest,  he  can  call  for  a  posse  comitatus.  If 
this  is  insufficient  to  execute  the  law,  the  Governor  can 
call  upon  the  President  for  troops.  These  troops,  when 
so  employed,  are  under  the  direction  of  the  civil  author 
ity,  and  the  force  used  must  be  for  the  purpose  of  exe 
cuting  the  law.  There  is  no  other  legal  way  to  pro 
ceed." 

The  commissioners  voted  "Wilmot  a  lunatic,  and  dis 
charged  him  instanter. 


CHAPTER  Y. 

INDIANS   DISCUSS  THE  WHITE  PEOPLE'S  KELIGION. 


R.  PARKMAN  found  staying  in  an  Indian 
camp,  and  not  being  able  to  speak  a  word  of 
their  language,  to  be  anything  but  pleasant. 
He  did  not  know  that  anything  was  going 
on  more  than  the  usual  life  of  the  Indians,  but  runners 
were  coming  and  going  between  the  different  bands  of 
the  tribe  all  the  time.  His  presence  in  the  camp  was 
thoroughly  discussed.  About  listening  to  this  new  re 
ligion,  two  parties  immediately  arose.  One  was  opposed 
to  the  whole  thing.  ""They  did  not  want  to  hear  any 
thing  about  it  at  all.  The  other  party  wanted  to  hear, 


64 

and  then  consider  the  matter  afterward.  These  were 
composed  mostly  of  the  younger  men.  The  old  ones, 
and  especially  the  old  medicine  men,  were  bitterly 
opposed.  They  said  the  young  men  were  fools,  and 
would  bring  some  great  harm  upon  the  tribe.  In  one 
tent  they  got  especially  warm  over  it,  and  half  a  dozen 
of  them  were  talking  at  once.  Finally  one  man  of 
about  middle  age,  who  was  greatly  respected  by  all,  got 
their  attention.  He  said  : 

"  The  white  men  and  the  Indians  are  all  men.  "We 
have  hands  and  feet  and  heads  all  alike.  They  are 
very  powerful  and  we  are  very  weak.  I  have  heard  that 
they  have  a  book  out  of  which  they  learned  all  these 
things  which  we  do  not  know.  The  book,  they  say, 
was  written  by  the  Great  Spirit.  I  would  like  to  hear 
this  man  read  something  out  of  this  book." 

"  I  don't  believe  they  have  any  such  book,"'  said 
another.  "  It  is  all  a  lie.  The  white  men  always  lie. 
I  don't  believe  this  man  ie  any  different  from  the  rest." 

"  Well,  they  have  something  which  is  different  from 
us,  or  how  could  they  make  guns  and  a  village  which, 
will  float  on  the  water  and  go  up  and  down  the  river, 
as  fast  as  a  horse  can  run  ?" 

Then  half  a  dozen  got  to  talking  at  once  again. 
Finally,  one,  who  had  a  stronger  voice  than  the  rest, 
called  out  so  that  all  heard  him  : 

"  Hush,  you  are  nothing  but  a  pack  of  children. 
You  don't  know  anything  at  all.  You're  all  going  to 
hear  this  man,  for  the  chief  sent  after  Shonnee  to 
interpret,  and  he  has  come." 

That  settled  it.     No  one  said  anything  more,  and 


65 

one  appeared  just  as  eager  as  another  to  hear  the 
;<  talk." 

Shonnee  was  a  half-breed,  who  belonged  to  another 
band.  His  name  was  John,  or  Johnny,  as  he  was 
commonly  called,  and  that  was  as  near  as  they  could 
pronounce  it.  Besides,  "  Shonnee  "  was  an  Indian  word, 
meaning,  "  sugar."  Shonnee  could  talk  Indian  fluently, 
but  his  English  was  desperately  bad.  He  went  to  Mr. 
Parkman  and  told  him  that  he  was  an  interpreter,  and 
the  Indians  desired  hirn  to  speak  to  them. 

The  whole  camp  assembled,  the  men  sitting  in  a 
circle  inside  and  the  women  and  children  on  the  outer 
edges,  and  Mr.  Parkman  undertook  to  preach  his  first 
sermon  through  an  interpreter.  He  was  very  much 
puzzled  what  to  say,  where  to  commence  or  how  to  in 
troduce  a  subject  so  vast  and  complicated  as  the 
Christian  religion.  This  is  what  actually  occurred. 

Mr.  Parkman — "  I  will  first  sing  a  hymn  in  praise  of 
God." 

Interpreter — "  He  says  he  will  sing  about  God." 

"  Who  ever  heard  of  such  a  thing  as  that  ?"  thought 
the  Indians. 

Mr.  Parkman  then  commenced  to  sing  a  rattling, 
lively  Methodist  tune.  The  Indians  were  delighted 
and  immensely  amused. 

Mr.  Parkman — "  Say  to  them  I  will  pray  to  God." 

Interpreter — "  He  says  he's  going  to  talk  to  God." 

"  That  is  good,"  thought  the  Indians,  "  we  all  do 
that,"  and  they  listened  reverently.  The  prayer  was 
not  interpreted. 

Then    Mr.    Parkman   commenced    to  talk.      The 


66  WHITE  PEOPLE'S  RELIGION. 

substance  of  the  sermon  was  that  there  was  one  God, 
who  made  all  things.  He  sent  his  Son  into  the  world 
to  teach  men,  and  they  killed  him.  After  he  was 
dead  he  rose  again,  and  went  up  to  heaven.  God  had 
given  to  the  white  men  a  book  which  taught  them  all 
things  which  they  ought  to  know.  There  were  a  great 
many  nations  of  people  on  the  earth,  some  of  them 
on  the  other  side  of  the  great  water.  All  the  nations 
who  read  this  book  and  followed  its  teachings  were 
great  and  powerful.  Those  who  did  not  have  it,  or 
did  not  obey  what  it  said,  were  weak,  and  poor,  and 
miserable.  Now  he  would  read  some  out  of  the  book. 

He  then  read  the  Ten  Commandments,  and  part  of 
the  Sermon  on  the  Mount.  When  he  had  finished,  an 
old  Indian  arose.  He  was  of  the  opposition  party. 

"  My  friend,"  said  he,  "  we  have  heard  what  you 
said.  The  first  part  that  you  read  from  the  book  we 
have  always  known.  Our  law  says  there  is  a  God,  that 
we  shall  not  steal,  we  shall  not  lie,  that  we  shall  not  kill, 
except  in  war.  I  think  that  is  the  same  as  what  you 
read,  only  you  must  have  forgotten  to  read  c  except  in 
war.'  That,  I  think,  must  be  in  your  book,  too. 

"  What  you  told  us  of  God's  son,  we  know  nothing 
about.  It  is  hard  for  us  to  understand  that.  Once  be 
fore,  a  missionary  came  to  us.  He  told  us  this  same 
story.  But  he  lied  to  us.  He  told  us  that  one  day  in 
seven  was  God's  day.  That  we  must  not  do  any  work 
on  that  day.  If  we  did,  something  bad  would  happen 
to  us.  He  said  we  must  not  hoe  our  corn  on  that  day. 
If  we  did,  it  would  not  grow  good.  Some  of  us 
thought  we  would  try  it,  and  every  seventh  day  we 


WHITE  PEOPLE'S  RELIGION.  67 

hoed  our  corn,  and  on  no  other  day,  and  the  corn  was 
better  than  that  which  was  not  hoed  so  much.  So  we 
know  he  told  us  a  lie.  The  white  people  don't  do 
themselves  what  is  commanded  in  that  book.  There  are 
white  people  just  over  the  river.  I  know  they  do  every 
thing  which  you  say  the  book  says  they  must  not  do. 
My  friend,  you  are  in  our  camp,  you  eat  with  us.  My 
heart  feels  good  toward  you  and  the  two  women.  I. 
have  finished." 

Mr.  Parkman  was  not  prepared  to  meet  that  argu 
ment.  He  was  turning  over  in  his  mind  what  was  best 
to  say,  when  another  Indian  arose. 

"  My  friend,"  said  he,  "  it  makes  my  heart  feel  good 
to  hear  what  you  say.  "What  you  have  said  is  good. 
All  of  it  is  good.  The  man  who  has  just  spoken  don't 
think  so,  but  I  do.  He  is  old  and  he  has  forgotten  some 
things.  He  remembers  there  are  bad  white  people  who 
tell  lies  and  steal,  and  work  on  the  holy  day.  He  for 
gets  about  the  bad  Indians.  He  can't  remember  about 
Big  Elk.  He  is  too  old." 

The  name  of  Big  Elk  had  hardly  been  pronounced 
when  a  half  dozen  Indians  sprang  to  their  feet  and  a  tre 
mendous  battle  of  words  ensued.  Big  Elk  was  a  relation 
of  the  old  Indian  who  had  first  spoken,  and  of  several 
others.  He  had  become  such  a  confirmed  thief  that  he 
had  been  expelled  from  the  tribe.  It  took  the  author 
ity  of  the  chief  to  restore  quiet,  after  which,  they  dis 
persed.  The  new  religion  was  the  subject  of  conversa 
tion  all  over  the  camp,  until  late  at  night,  and  the  two 
parties  became  more  than  ever  set  in  their  way  of  think 
ing. 


68  A  DESPERATE    BATTLE. 

CHAPTER  VI. 

A   DESrEKATE  BATTLE. 


HE  night  Major  Hodson  transferred  his  force 
across  the  river  was  dark  and  rainy.  When 
they  were  in  camp  Jack  went  to  the  Major 
and  told  him  the  situation  of  Mr.  Parkman, 
his  wife  and  the  young  girl.  Major  Hodson  was  deep 
ly  interested  and  somewhat  excited,  and  commenced  to 
think  over  different  plans  to  effect  their  rescue.  Being 
convinced  that  the  Indians  had  actually  gone  to  war,  he 
could  think  of  no  plan  that  seemed  feasible.  A  sudden 
dash  into  the  camp,  if  a  complete  surprise,  might  effect 
a  rescue  ;  but  the  Indians  wTere,  of  course,  on  the  alert, 
and  there  was  no  prospect  of  a  surprise  being  effected. 
He  asked  Jack  if  he  thought  he  could  lead  a  band  of 
men  into  that  camp,  and  said  if  he  could  he  would  fol 
low  with  the  main  force,  and  keep  within  supporting 
distance.  It  was  an  extremely  hazardous  undertaking. 
Jack  thought  if  he  had  about  twenty  picked  men, 
mounted  on  good  horses,  he  could  reach  the  camp  be 
fore  the  break  of  day.  The  expedition  was  so  extreme 
ly  hazardous  that  Major  Hodson  resolved  to  ask  some 
officer  to  volunteer  to  take  command  of  this  forlorn 
hope.  Lieutenant  Blake  immediately  offered  his  ser 
vices,  and  was  accepted,  and  in  half  an  hour  the  whole 
command  was  on  the  march,  the  twenty  men,  led  by 


A     DESPERATE    BATTLE.  69 

Jack  and  Lieutenant  Blake,  soon  leaving  the  main  body 
far  in  the  rear. 

Jack  advised  the  lieutenant  to  march  his  men  in 
"  Injun  file,"  as  he  called  it.  The  night  was  very 
dark,  but  Jack  knew  the  contour  of  every  hill,  and 
pressed  forward  with  as  much  certainty  as  the  needle 
points  to  the  pole. 

About  an  hour  before  day  they  reached  the  brow  of 
the  hill  above  the  Indian  camp.  As  silently  as  possi 
ble  the  men  were  formed  and  dashed  down.  But  not  a 
tent  was  there.  The  Indians  had  fled.  To  prevent  a 
surprise,  a  retreat  was  made  to  the  prairie  back  of  the 
hills,  to  await  the  arrival  of  the  main  force.  In  the 
morning  a  trail  was  discovered  leading  across  the  Platte 
river,  and  then  away  to  the  southwest.  From  the  size 
of  the  trail  it  was  evident  that  the  band  did  not  number 
over  sixty  or  seventy  warriors,  and  Major  Hodson  re 
solved  to  send  forty  picked  men  in  pursuit,  under  com 
mand  of  Captain  Hinkle  and  Lieutenant  Blake,  and 
Jack  as  scout  and  guide.  The  men  carried  four  days' 
rations  and  forty  rounds  of  ammunition.  It  was  ten 
o'clock  when  they  were  ready  to  start.  TWTO  horses 
were  lost  in  the  quicksand  in  fording  the  Platte,  and 
the  men  were  sent  back  on  foot  to  the  main  command. 
By  sundown  they  had  marched  forty  miles,  and  the  trail 
looked  no  fresher  than  it  did  in  the  morning.  Cof 
fee  was  made,  a  hasty  meal  eaten,  and  the  command 
pushed  on  until  the  horses  showed  signs  of  exhaustion. 
A  halt  was  made  until  daylight,  and  then  the  march 
commenced  again.  On  through  the  hot  sun  they  passed 
over  the  rolling  prairie,  covered  with  short  buffalo  grass, 


70  A    DESPERATE    BATTLE. 

it  always  seeming  that  when  the  next  swell  was  gained 
something  different  would  meet  the  view ;  but  it  was 
ever  the  same  never-ending  billows  of  solid  earth.  The 
sun  burned  the  untanned  face  of  Lieutenant  Blake  to  a 
blister.  Men  and  officers  suffered  terribly  for  water 
and  from  fatigue. 

It  was  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  when  a  email 
stream  was  reached  and  a  halt  was  called.  Here  the> 
Indians  had  made  the  first  halt  since  they  had  left  their 
old  village.  All  along  the  trail  for  the  last  few  miles 
were  found  articles  which  the  Indians  had  abandoned. 
Near  the  creek  were  the  carcasses  of  four  ponies  which 
had  evidently  given  out  and  then  been  killed.  The  horses 
were  allowed  to  bait,  and  the  men  to  rest  for  an  hour  and 
a  half.  Many  of  them  had  fallen  to  sleep  the  moment 
they  had  unsaddled  their  horses,  and  it  was  with  much 
difficulty  that  they  were  awakened  by  the  officers.  Can 
teens  were  filled  at  the  creek  and  the  march  was  continued. 
Lieutenant  Blake,  unused  to  the  saddle,  was  in  a  terrible 
condition.  The  great  blisters  on  his  face  were  perfect 
torture,  and  Jack  began  to  fear  that  he  would  fall  from 
his  saddle,  but  not  a  word  of  complaint  escaped  him. 
The  Indians  had  made  a  march  of  at  least  seventy-five 
miles  without  a  halt.  At  about  four  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon,  Jack,  who  was  half  a  mile  in  front,  discovered 
that  another  trail  came  into  the  one  he  was  following, 
giving  evidence  that  this  band  had  been  joined  by 
another  equally  large.  The  fact  was  reported  to  Captain 
Hinkle,  but  the  Captain;  resolved  to  press  on.  In 
another  hour  Jack  called  Captain  Hinkle's  attention  to 


A    DESPERATE    BATTLE.  71 

what  appeared  to  be  two  bunches  of  grass  on  a  swell 
of  the  prairie  some  distance  in  front  and  to  the  right. 

Objects  on  or  near  the  surface  are  very  indistinctly 
seen  on  the  prairie  when  at  a  little  distance.  There  is 
always,  on  a  clear  day,  a  wavy,  hazy  look  in  the  atmos 
phere  at  the  point  where  the  earth  and  sky  seem  to 
meet. 

"  There's  no  sich  grass  growing  on  the  high  prairie," 
said  Jack. 

"  What  is  it  3"  asked  the  Captain. 

"  Injuns,"  said  Jack. 

They  both  kept  their  eyes  on  the  objects  for  some 
time,  but  they  did  not  move.  The  Captain  ordered  his 
men  to  close  up  and  look  to  their  arms.  A  detail  of 
ten  men  was  made  to  scour  the  prairie  in  that  direction. 
When  Jack  reached  the  little  hill  where  the  objects 
had  attracted  attention,  he  saw  beyond  a  wide  valley, 
in  the  midst  of  which  was  flowing  a  beautiful  river. 
Both  to  the  right  and  left  were  heavy  groves  of  timber. 
It  was  the  valley  of  the  Blue.  No  living  object  was  in 
sight.  Going  back  to  the  trail  it  led  down  to  the 
river  bank,  and  on  the  other  side  the  Indians  had  made 
a  halt  much  longer  than  at  the  previous  place. 

To  a  dweller  in  the  Eastern  States,  it  is  a  mystery 
how  a  scout  can  tell  whether  a  trail  is  fresh  or  old,  or 
how  long  a  halt  has  been  made  at  a  camping-place. 
The  amount  of  manure  from  the  animals,  the  appear 
ance  of  the  camp  fires,  the  condition  of  the  grass,  the 
well-trodden  path  down  the  bank  of  the  river  to  get 
water,  will  easily  tell  any  man  with  eyes  such  a  thing 
ae  that, 


72  A     DESPE11ATE    BATTLE. 

In  the  boughs  of  some  trees  near  the  crossing  were 
the  dead  bodies  of  an  Indian  woman  and  a  very  young 
baby.  They  had  died  from  fatigue,  and  been  buried 
there  by  their  friends.  One  of  the  soldiers  fired  some 
shots  into  the  bodies  from  his  revolver.  He  was  se 
verely  reprimanded  and  ordered  on  extra  duty  by 
Captain  II  inkle. 

It  was  absolutely  necessary  to  halt  here  and  rest  the 
stock.  A  guard  was  stationed,  and  the  other  men  were 
soon  fast  asleep.  Before  dark  camp  was  broken  and 
the  march  resumed.  About  midnight  another  halt 
was  called,  and  camp  was  made  on  the  open  prairie,  far 
from  any  timber,  to  prevent  surprise.  When  daylight 
came  the  weary  men  were  in  their  saddles  and  on  the 
trail  again.  For  two  days  they  had  all  been  on  half 
rations.  The  day  was  intensely  hot.  It  seemed  as  if 
the  blazing  sun  would  set  fire  to  the  crisp  prairie  grass. 
Indian  cooking  utensils,  tent-poles,  blankets,  and  other 
articles  were  found  all  along  the  trail  during  the  day. 
Several  broken-down  ponies  were  also  seen,  showing 
that  the  Indians  were  fleeing  as  fast  as  it  was  possible. 
It  was  one  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  The  water  in  the 
canteens  was  all  gone.  A  hot  wind  was  blowing  from 
the  southwest,  so  hot  that  it  immediately  dried  up  the 
perspiration  on  the  horses  and  men.  Jack  knew  that 
the  first  water  they  would  reach  was  at  the  Little  Blue, 
which  must  be  many  miles  away.  Captain  Hinkle 
knew  that  to  urge  the  horses  under  this  hot  wind  would 
be  certain  death  to  them,  and  the  command  proceeded 
at  a  slow  walk.  As  the  afternoon  wore  away,  the 
suffering  from  thirst,  aggravated  by  the  hot  wind,  made 


A    DESPERATE    BATTLE.  73 

existence  a  perfect  agony.  Night  came  on  and  the 
Little  Blue  was  not  in  sight.  Wearily  onward  the 
command  dragged  itself.  Many  of  the  men  were 
asleep  in  their  saddles.  Scarcely  a  word  was  spoken  as 
mile  after  mile  they  crept  over  the  prairie. 

As  Captain  Hinkle  rode  at  the  head  of  his  command 
he  thought  of  his  wife  and  children  in  the  pleasant 
barracks  at  Fort  Leaven  worth.  He  thought  of  the 
happy  time  he  had  spent  there  during  the  last  nine 
months,  before  he  was  ordered  away  on  this  expedition. 
He  had  seen  a  great  deal  of  hard  service  in  the  ten 
years  he  had  been  in  the  army,  and  the  few  short  weeks 
or  months  he  had,  at  different  times,  spent  with  his 
family,  were  the  only  bright  spots  in  his  life.  He 
cursed  Perkins  from  the  bottom  of  his  heart,  knowing 
that  he  was  the  cause  of  all  this  trouble,  and  the  hard 
ships  he  was  forced  to  endure. 

"  If  I  were  making  such  a  forced  march  as  this," 
thought  the  Captain,  "  in  any  civilized  war,  I  might 
get  some  credit  for  it,  perhaps  promotion,  but  an 
officer  never  gets  any  credit  for  fighting  Indians.  If 
he  is  not  successful  against  as  brave  a  foe  as  ever 
carried  arms,  wily,  alert  and  relentless  as  Satan  himself, 
— and  that,  too,  always  fighting  them  with  inferior 
numbers — he  is  denounced  all  over  the  West  as  an  in 
competent  or  a  coward.  If  he  is  successful,  he  is  de 
nounced  in  the  East  as  an  inhuman  butcher." 

I   don't   suppose  there  was   ever  an   officer  on  an 

expedition  like  this  who  did  not  think  more  or  less  of 

resigning  his   commission  in   the  army;  and  Captain 

Hinkle  thought  of  it  too.     But  he  did  not  know  how  to 

4 


74  A    DESPERATE    BATTLE. 

do  anything  on  earth.  In  civil  life  he  would  be  a 
pauper,  he  thought,  and  then  what  would  become  of  his 
wife  and  children  ? 

Suddenly,  as  they  were  plodding  along,  Jack's  horse 
gave  a  snort,  and  would  have  given  another  if  he  had 
not  given  him  an  awful  jerk  in  the  mouth.  He  rode  up 
to  Captain  H  inkle,  and  said : 

"  Captain,  there's  Injuns  within  five  hundred  yards 
of  this  place." 

The  command  was  halted,  and  with  some  difficulty 
formed  in  line.  The  officers  had  to  ride  up  and  down 
the  column  while  they  stood  there,  and  slap  the  men 
with  their  swords  to  keep  them  awake,  so  utterly  ex 
hausted  were  they. 

Skirmishers  were  thrown  out,  and  every  precaution 
was  taken  to  prevent  a  surprise.  Jack  and  Lieutenant 
Blake  were  sent  to  see  what  discoveries  they  could 
make.  About  half  a  mile  to  the  front  they  came  to  the 
brow  of  a  hill,  and  discovered  by  the  dim  starlight  an 
Indian  camp  on  the  banks  of  the  Little  Blue.  A  few 
ponies  were  picketed  out,  and  quite  a  number  of  tents 
could  be  seen. 

When  Jack  saw  the  ponies  he  turned  to  Lieutenant 
and  said : 

"  These  Injuns  are  up  to  some  deviltry.  They've 
got  more  ponies  than  that.  We'd  better  git  back  to  the 
command  or  we'll  be  cut  off.  Where's  the  rest  of  them 
ponies  ?"  The  words  were  scarcely  pronounced  when 
a  howl,  as  of  a  thousand  demons,  broke  out  over  the 
still  night.  The  Indians  had  attacked  the  main  force. 

The  fierce  war-whoops  of  the  Indians  seemed  to  put 


A    DESPERATE    BATTLE.  75 

new  life  into  the  jaded  horses.  In  moments  like  those 
that  followed  it  sometimes  occurs  that  the  commanding 
officer  is  changed  without  any  formalities.  Jack  com 
menced  to  give  orders  to  his  superior  officer,  who  did 
his  best  to  obey  them. 

"  Clap  them  spurs  into  that  horse,"  said  Jack  to  Lieu 
tenant  Blake. 

"  Lie  down  on  the  horse,"  was  the  next  order. 

"  Be  sure  of  your  revolver,  and  have  it  ready." 

Indian  tactics  are  not  according  to  Hardee,  or  any 
other  standard  military  authority;  nevertheless  they 
have  a  system  of  their  own.  A  warrior  who  should 
lead  his  men  in  a  charge  on  the  enemy,  even  if  he  was 
victorious,  would  gain  no  honor  if  he  lost  several  of 
his  men.  Their  system  is  based  on  the  idea  of  killing 
without  being  killed.  It  is  to  lead  the  enemy  into  am 
bush,  to  surprise  and  slay  him  when  he  cannot  resist. 
They  adopt  this  mode  from  necessity.  Their  warriors 
are  few  in  number,  and  a  small  loss  seriously  cripples 
them.  Besides,  it  disturbs  their  family  relations,  and 
throws  the  support  of  the  dead  warrior's  kindred  upon 
those  unable  to  bear  it.  They  have  no  pension  roll.  If 
they  seldom  charge  on  batteries  and  lines  of  well-formed 
troops,  it  is  not  for  the  want  of  courage,  as  the  United 
States  troops  have  frequently  learned  from  experience. 
In  this  case  they  were  riding  around  Captain  Hinkle's 
command  at  a  safe  distance,  firing  arrows  from  under 
tiieir  ponies'  necks,  and  those  who  had  rifles  using  them 
in  the  same  way. 

Through  this  line  Jack  and  Lieutenant  Blake  had  to 
make  their  way.  When  within  about  four  hundred 


76  A     DESPERATE    BATTLE. 

yards  of  the  command  the  Lieutenant's  horse  was  shot, 
and  Jack's  fell  a  moment  afterward.  They  were  not 
twenty  feet  apart.  The  horses  were  running  at  full 
speed,  and  the  men  fell  heavily  to  the  ground. 

"  Crawl  up  to  your  horse,"  said  Jack.  "  Make  a 
breastwork  of  him." 

A  band  of  twenty  Indians  rode  down  upon  them. 

"Keep  still,"  said  Jack.  Not  a  movement  was 
made  until  they  were  in  revolver  range. 

"  Now's  yer  time,"  said  Jack.  Three  reports  in 
quick  succession  came  from  Jack's  revolver,  and  one 
from  Lieutenant  Blake's.  A  volley  of  shots  and 
arrows  was  returned  from  the  Indians.  Two  of  them 
dropped  from  their  ponies,  and  the  others,  stooping 
down,  picked  them  up  and  retreated. 

"  Now's  our  time,"  said  Jack. 

"  Save  yourself,"  said  Lieutenant  Blake.  "  I  cannot 
go.  It  is  no  use  for  you  to  stay.  You  will  only  be 
killed.  Go  on  before  they  come  back." 

"  "Where  are  you  hurt  ?" 

"  In  my  right  leg.  Go  on.  I'm  as  good  as  dead 
anyhow.  Go  on." 

Jack  stooped  down,  felt  of  the  wound,  and  said, 
"  I'll  stay  right  here  and  fight  it  out." 

Captain  Hinkle  heard  the  firing  and  could  see 
something  of  what  was  going  on,  and  he  moved  his 
whole  command  to  where  they  were,  the  Indians  circling 
around  them  and  firing  all  the  time.  Besides  Lieu 
tenant  Blake,  he  had  already  lost  one  man  kiJled  and 
two  wounded.  For  the  remainder  of  the  night  Captain 
Hinkle  fought  it  out  where  he  was.  When  the  morn- 


A    DESPERATE    BATTLE.  77 

ing  dawned  upon  those  exhausted  and  thirsty  men  the 
clear  water  of  the  Little  Blue  was  in  plain  sight  through 
a  break  in  the  hills.  His  losses  at  daybreak  were  six 
men  wounded,  two  killed  and  twelve  horses  shot.  His 
command  must  have  water.  It  was  with  the  greatest 
difficulty  that  he  prevented  them  rushing  pell-mell 
down  to  the  river,  which  he  knew  would  be  certain 
death  to  them  all.  He  resolved  to  drive  the  Indians 
before  him  or  perish,  one  and  all,  in  the  attempt.  He 
formed  his  men  and  pressed  forward,  the  Indians  giving 
way  before  him,  over  the  bluffs  and  down  into  the 
bottom.  As  they  neared  the  river  bank,  it  was  plain 
that,  concealed  behind  it,  was  a  large  body  of  Indians. 
One-third  of  his  command  was  either  killed  or 
wounded  by  the  heavy  fire,  and  he  was  forced  to  retreat 
out  of  range.  The  Indians,  encouraged  by  their  suc 
cess,  swarmed  around  in  overwhelming  numbers,  dashing 
down  and  firing,  and  then  retreating.  Every  few 
minutes  another  man  was  wounded  or  killed.  Captain 
Hinkle  did  not  have  more  than  twenty-five  effective 
men  and  one  officer  left. 

At  last  he  ordered  the  horses  brought  into  a  circle 
and  shot,  and  behind  them  the  men  lay  down  to  fight 
it  out  to  the  bitter  end.  Jack  said  to  the  Captain,  "  If 
we  dig  down  in  this  earth,  I  think  in  five  or  six  feet 
we  will  come  to  water.  I  think  if  one  man  is  kept  at 
it  all  the  time,  we  can  reach  it  in  three  or  four  hours. 
Dig  up  the  dirt  with  hunting  knives  and  throw  it  out 
with  the  hands." 

This  suggestion  was  put  into  immediate  execution. 
'  Lieutenant  Blake  dragged  himself  up  to  the  body  of 


78  A    DESPEEATE    BATTLE. 

a  dead  horse,  took  a  carbine  from  a  wounded  soldier, 
and  fought  as  bravely  as  if  not  half  dead  from  thirst 
and  suffering  inexpressible  agony  with  his  wound. 
They  found  water,  as  Jack  had  predicted,  but  many  of 
the  men,  when  they  drank,  threw  it  up,  and  could  keep 
none  on  their  stomachs,  until  they  followed  the  direc 
tions  of  the  surgeon,  to  take  a  small  swallow  at  inter 
vals. 

The  Indians  gave  them  no  rest.  They  were  con 
stantly  circling  around  them,  rushing  up,  first  on  one 
side,  and  then  on  another,  firing  and  retreating. 
As  the  day  wore  away,  more  and  more  men  were 
wounded  and  killed. 

About  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  a  bullet  pierced 
the  brain  of  the  brave  Captain  Hinkle.  Never  was 
there  a  more  gallant  officer,  a  better  husband  and  father, 
a  more  generous  and  whole-souled  companion.  He  was 
mercilessly  sacrificed,  as  have  been  hundreds  of  others, 
in  unnecessary  Indian  wars.  Twenty  minutes  after 
ward,  the  only  other  officer  was  so  desperately  wounded 
that  he  was  totally  disabled,  and  Lieutenant  Blake  took 
command.  Unused  to  such  hardships,  sorely  wounded, 
almost  exhausted  from  fatigue,  during  all  that  long 
night  he  never  closed  his  eyes.  He  gave  every  neces 
sary  order,  kept  complete  control  of  the  few  men  who 
were  yet  able  to  fight,  and  every  time  an  Indian  came 
in  the  range  of  his  carbine,  its  sharp  report  rang  out  on 
the  still  night  air.  Sometimes  the  Indians  howled  like 
so  many  devils.  Sometimes  it  was  as  still  as  death,  and 
then  again  there  was  a  rain  of  arrows  and  bullets. 
When  the  sun  arose  the  next  morning,  it  never  shone 


A    DESPEEATE    BATTLE.  79 

on  a  more  horrible  sight  than  that  little  circle.  The 
dead  had  been  thrown  in  the  middle,  and  the  wounded 
and  those  who  were  yet  unhurt  lay  close  up  against  the 
carcasses  of  the  dead  horses.  Lieutenant  Blake's  leg 
was  fearfully  swollen,  and  he  was  suffering  unspeakable 
agony,  but  he  was  not  enduring  more  pain  than  some 
of  the  other  wounded. 

Some  of  the  Indians  brought  water  from  the  river 
and  threw  it  up  in  the  air.  Lieutenant  Blake  could  not 
imagine  what  they  were  doing  that  for,  and  he  asked 
Jack. 

"  The  infernal  varmints,"  said  Jack,  "  think  that 
we  haven't  any  water,  and  they  want  to  tantalize  us." 

A  few  minutes  afterward,  Jack  got  a  camp-kettle  full 
of  water  and  a  tin  cup,  and  commenced  to  throw  it  up 
in  the  air. 

"Mebbe,"  said  he,  "when  them  red  devils  find  out 
we  have  plenty  of  water,  they  will  conclude  they  can't 
kill  us  for  want  of  something  to  drink,  and  clear  out." 

It  was  certain  that  this  performance  of  Jack's  had 
had  some  effect  on  the  Indians,  for  all  their  forces  were 
drawn  olff.  The  spirits  of  the  few  half  dead  heroes, 
who  were  still  able  to  handle  their  guns,  arose.  They 
thought  the  Indians  were  about  to  leave.  A  few  minutes 
afterward  the  hope  vanished,  for  over  a  hundred  Indian 
warriors  rode  out  of  the  woods,  with  the  very  evident 
intention  of  making  a  charge  on  the  remnant  who  still 
lay  inside  of  the  circle  of  dead  horses. 

Lieutenant  Blake  spoke  to  his  men  : 

"  This,"  said  he,  "  is  the  end  of  the  struggle.  If 
you  repel  this  assault  it  will  be  their  last.  Load  and  be 


80  A    DESPERATE    BATTLE. 

ready  to  fire  at  the  word  of  command.  Have  your 
revolvers  ready,  and  fight  to  the  last.  If  taken  prison 
ers  you  will  be  tortured  to  death.  Let  us  die  like  brave 
men." 

The  Indians  formed  a  line.  The  chief  in  gay  dress 
and  feathers  rode  along  the  line  and  took  his  station  in 
the  center.  A  chorus  of  war-whoops  rent  the  aiv,  and 
on  they  came.  Across  the  dead  horses  was  leveled 
every  carbine.  The  Indians  were  about  half  a  mile 
away.  •  They  put  their  ponies  to  the  top  of  their  speed. 
Their  bodies  were  nearly  naked,  and  their  faces  and 
breasts  daubed  with  paint.  They  had  made  about  half 
the  distance,  when  a  cry  of  surprise  rent  the  air.  The 
Indians  turned,  fled  across  the  river,  up  the  bluffs  on 
the  other  side  and  out  of  view.  Lieutenant  Blake  was 
struck  dumb  with  surprise.  As  the  Indians  had  fled, 
the  men  rose  to  their  feet  and  watched  them  with 
eager  eyes.  The  silence  was  broken  by  a  soldier  saying : 

"Look!     Look!" 

They  turned  and  looked.  Down  over  the  hills  in 
their  rear,  at  full  gallop,  came  a  company  of  United 
States  cavalry,  with  Major  liodson  at  their  head.  Back 
on  the  hills  they  had  come  upon  the  mutilated  and 
scalped  bodies  of  the  men  who  had  been  killed  in  the 
first  onslaught.  From  there  they  had  ridden  at  a  full 
gallop. 


OLD  HAIRY  BEAR'S  ORGIES.  81 

CHAPTER  VII. 
OLD  HAIRY  BEAR'S  ORGIES  AND  MEHA'S  HEROISM. 


HAT  occurred  in  the  camp  of  the  Indians 
after  the  preaching  of  the  sermon  by  Mr. 
Parkman,  will  be  hard  for  a  civilized  person 
to  understand.  Old  Hairy  Bear,  who  had 
made  the  speech  against  the  white  men's  religion,  went 
to  his  tent,  and  having  gathered  some  of  the  familiar 
spirits  of  his  own  kind  about  him,  wrought  them  into  a 
rage  by  relating  the  attrocities  which  had  been  perpe 
trated  upon  them  in  by-gone  days  by  the  whites. 

"  Once,"  he  said,  "  the  Indians  owned  all  this 
country.  We  were  free  and  happy.  Our  young 
men  were  brave,  our  young  women  strong,  healthy  and 
good  to  look  at.  Game  was  everywhere.  The  Indian 
never  went  hungry  then.  Our  lodges  were  made  of 
the  finest  furs,  and  when  a  man  laid  down  to  sleep  he 
wrapped  himself  in  beaver  and  otter  skins.  There  was 
no  sickness  in  those  days,  but  men  died  of  old  age. 
Then  the  white  men  came.  They  were  poor.  There 
were  but  very  few  of  them.  They  came  begging  to 
our  tent  doors.  We  fed  them,  we  gave  them  land. 
They  said  they  would  ever  be  our  friends.  But  they 
were  liars  and  thieves  and  murderers.  They  crept  upon 
us  by  night  and  killed  our  warriors  and  women  and 
children.  My  father  was  brave  and  kind.  A  white 
man  killed  him.  My  brother  was  a  great  hunter  and 
4* 


82 

warrior.  They  killed  him.  Our  chief  was  a  coward 
and  did  not  revenge  their  death.  The  Great  Spirit  is 
angry  with  us." 

Then  the  old  heathen  set  up  a  howl,  like  a  dying 
swan,  pretending  to  lament  for  the  dead,  and  the 
others  joined  in  it.  Another  wrinkled  old  Indian,  who 
knew  he  was  too  old  to  go  on  the  war-path,  told  of  the 
death  of  his  relations  and  that  God  called  upon  them 
for  vengeance.  The  tent  was  steaming  hot  and  the 
excitement  grew  intense.  A  medicine  man,  with  the 
sacred  stick  in  his  hand,  which  had  the  "  big  medicine  " 
in  it,  got  out  in  the  center  of  the  tent,  and  went  through 
a  series  of  most  disgusting  contortions,  the  others 
crooning  a  most  melancholy  tune,  if  tune  it  could  be 
called.  It  was  a  jumble  of  words  and  sounds  without 
meaning,  lamenting  the  dead  killed  by  the  whites,  who 
never  would  reach  the  happy  hunting-grounds  because 
they  had  not  been  avenged.  After  this  had  gone  on 
for  a  while,  and  the  naturally  nervous  temperaments  of 
the  Indians  had  been  wrought  up  to  a  terrible  pitch  of 
excitement,  by  this  sort  of  religious  exercise,  resembling 
very  much  the  scenes  which  sometimes  occur  at  camp 
meetings,  the  old  medicine  man  began  to  prophesy, 
that  all  the  woes  which  could  be  told  would  fall  upon  the 
tribe,  if  these  wrongs  were  not  avenged ;  and  wound  it 
up  by  the  startling  information  that  the  whites  at 
Council  Bhrffs  had  sent  for  the  soldiers  and  they  were 
then  on  the  way  to  exterminate  the  whole  band.  This 
produced  a  yell  of  rage  which  startled  the  whole  camp. 
The  Indians  rushed  out  of  the  tent,  covered  with 
perspiration,  wild  with  excitement,  arms  in  their  hands, 


83 

and  ran  for  the  tent  where  Mr.  Parkman  stopped,  with 
the  full  intent  of  murdering  them  all.  When  they  got 
inside  they  found  the  tent  empty.  Mr.  Parkman  and 
the  two  ladies  were  gone.  In  their  rage  they  came 
near  killing  the  owner  of  the  tent. 

Every  tribe  has  its  military  organization  ;  from  the 
want  of  a  better  term,  it  is  known  among  the  whites 
as  the  "  Soldier  Lodge."  The  man  in  command  is 
called  the  "  Head  Soldier.''  When  on  a  hunt  or  on  the 
war-path,  the  penalties  for  disobedience  of  orders  are 
very  severe,  sometimes  even  death.  Besides  the  Head 
Soldier,  there  are  other  officers,  which  are  usually  called 
"  policemen."  The  Head  Soldier  gets  his  orders  from 
the  head  chief.  The  chief  knew  of  the  orgies  which 
had  been  going  on  in  Hairy  Bear's  lodge,  but  as  they 
indulged  in  that  sort  of  thing  more  or  less  frequently 
he  had  no  thought  of  anything  serious  coming  of  it. 
Now  he  walked  up  to  the  raving  Indians,  proclaimed  a 
state  of  war,  and  ordered  the  old  Crier  to  spread  the 
news  and  call  a  council.  The  first  cry  of  the  old  man 
brought  the  Head  Soldier  to  the  chief's  side.  Only  a 
few  words  were  spoken,  but  there  was  instant  obedience 
on  all  sides. 

Badger,  the  head  chief,  had  kept  himself  pretty 
well  informed  of  the  movements  on  the  other  side  of 
the  river.  He  knew  of  the  arrival  of  the  troops  and 
the  uproar  among  the  whites,  and  had  made  up  his 
mind,  to  avoid  war,  it  was  better  to  leave  that  part  of 
the  country  and  go  far  into  the  interior.  He  had  in 
tended  to  break  camp  and  march  in  the  morning.  He 
told  the  head  men  when  in  council  that  he  had  received 


84 

the  news  from  a  runner  that  the  soldiers  were  coming. 
It  was,  therefore,  necessary  for  them  to  go  immediately, 
to  get  out  of  their  way,  until  he  could  be  joined  by 
other  bands  and  be  able  to  fight  them.  Before  mid 
night  the  whole  camp  was  on  the  march. 

Little  Meha  lived  with  her  uncle  in  her  uncle's  tent, 
for  her  father  was  dead.  Her  mother  lived  in  the  same 
tent  also.  Her  uncle  had  no  children,  and  but  one 
wife.  He  had  lost  all  of  his  children  and  one  of  his 
wives  in  the  great  small-pox  epidemic.  When  the  or 
gies  commenced  in  Hairy  Bear's  tent  she  listened.  As 
they  increased  she  began  to  fear  for  the  white  wo 
men,  whose  kind  treatment  of  her  had  completely  won 
her  heart.  As  the  orgies  increased  in  fervor,  she  was 
certain  that  they  would  end  in  the  death  of  the  whites. 
She  went  and  told  her  uncle,  and  he  went  down  near 
the  tent  and  listened.  He  was  also  convinced  that 
Hairy  Bear's  orgie  had  been  gotten  up  on  purpose,  with 
that  end  in  view.  But  what  could  he  do  ?  He  could 
do  nothing.  He  told  Meha  they  had  all  better  go  out 
of  the  tent  and  leave  them  alone.  He  felt  sorry  for  the 
white  people,  but  he  could  not  help  them.  Hairy  Bear 
and  his  relations  would  kill  him  if  he  interfered.  So 
Meha's  uncle,  mother  and  aunt  went  off  to  another  tent. 
Meha  looked  into  the  tent  and  saw  the  sick  girl  sleep 
ing,  and  the  lovely  and  kind  Mrs.  Parkman  sitting  by 
her  side  watching  her.  She  sat  down  and  cried.  Then 
she  made  a  resolve  to  save  them. 

She  went  into  the  tent,  her  eyes  full  of  tears,  and 
put  her  arms  around  the  neck  of  Mrs.  Parkman  and 
sobbed  as  if  her  heart  would  break.  Then  she  com- 


85 

mcnced  to  make  signs.  She  got  a  knife,  drew  it  across 
her  own  throat,  and  made  a  motion  as  if  to  scalp  her 
self.  She  put  her  hand  on  her  lips  to  indicate  silence, 
and  started  toward  the  tent  door,  and  motioned  to  follow 
her. 

The  whole  truth  flashed  over  Mrs.  Parkman  in  a 
moment.  She  did  not  faint ;  she  did  not  scream.  She 
walked  across  to  the  other  side  of  the  tent  and  awoke 
her  husband.  She  told  him  that  the  Indians  intended 
to  murder  them,  and  Meha  had  come  to  warn  them. 
The  girl,  who  had  greatly  recuperated,  was  awakened, 
and  told  that  they  must  leave  immediately.  The  calm 
courage  of  Mrs.  Parkman  imparted  itself  in  some  de 
gree  to  her.  When  they  were  ready  to  leave  the  tent, 
Meha  took  a  knife  from  her  belt  and  cut  some  of  the 
tent  fastenings  on  the  back  side,  raised  it  up,  and  mo 
tioned  for  them  to  go  out  that  way.  There  was  a  heavy 
growth  of  black  jack  and  hazel  brush  coming  up  to  the 
tent.  A  narrow  path  led  through  this  brush,  over  the 
point  and  down  into  the  Missouri  river  bottoms.  Along 
this  path  the  Indian  girl  led  the  little  party.  One  In 
dian  only  saw  their  departure.  He  was  a  relative  of 
Hairy  Bear.  He  was  as  savage-looking  a  human  being 
as  could  be  found  on  all  the  plains.  His  face  was  al 
ways  daubed  with  paint.  His  tent  was  as  dirty  as  a 
pig-sty,  and  his  wife  was  just  like  him.  As  Mr.  Park 
man  walked  along  in  the  rear  there  was  a  moccasined 
foot  which  kept  time  with  his  own,  coming  stealthily 
after  him.  Meha  caught  a  glimpse  of  the  dark  figure, 
stopped,  allowed  them  to  pass  her,  and  just  as  the  hand 
was  raised,  threw  herself  between  the  Indian  and  his 


86 

intended  victim.  The  knife  cut  a  heavy  gash  across 
the  top  of  her  shoulder,  and  the  villain  turned  and  fled. 

Meha's  uncle  was  one  of  the  police.  He  saw  this 
Indian  emerge  from  the  brush  and  suspected  what  his 
object  had  been.  Hairy  Bear's  party  were  just  mak 
ing  the  raid  on  his  own  tent,  and  it  was  through  this  vil 
lain  that  Meha's  uncle  came  near  losing  his  life.  The 
sudden  order  issued  by  the  chief  gave  Meha's  uncle 
command  over  this  Indian,  and  he  sent  him  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Platte  with  a  message  to  the  three  lodges 
camped  there. 

After  this  incident,  the  little  party  were  led  on  as 
fast  as  possible  by  Meha.  There  was  another  Indian 
village  up  the  river,  inhabited  by  a  kindred  tribe,  who 
spoke  the  same  language,  had  intermarried  with  this 
one,  but  were  entirely  separate  as  a  tribe.  To  this  vil 
lage  Meha  intended  to  take  the  white  women.  She  did 
not  know  where  else  to  go.  She  was  afraid  to  go  to 
the  whites.  They  arrived  at  the  village  just  at  day 
light,  and  found  it  in  an  uproar.  The  head  men  were 
all  in  council.  Major  Hodson's  command  had  marched 
by  in  the  night,  not  very  far  to  the  west  of  them.  At 
first,  it  was  thought  they  were  coming  to  attack  them, 
but  after  the  command  had  passed  on,  they  could 
not  decide  what  it  meant.  The  council  concluded  they 
would  send  a  delegation  to  overtake  the  command  and 
inform  the  officer  that  they  had  had  nothing  to  do 
with  the  troubles  which  had  occurred,  and  were  anxi 
ous  for  peace.  In  accordance  with  this  conclusion,  the 
chief  and  head  men  started  immediately.  This  tribe 


!  A  WOMAN'S  CONQUEST.  87 

was  rich  in  horses  and  cattle,  had  never  been  at  war 
with  the  whites,  and  earnestly  desired  to  live  in  peace. 

Mr.  Parkman,  his  wife,  the  young  lady  and  Meha, 
were  given  a  tent  to  themselves,  and  every  honor  paid 
to  them  that  the  Indians  could  devise.  Their  best 
blankets  and  robes  were  given  to  them,  and  much  food 
brought  and  placed  before  them. 

Meha  came  into  the  tent,  pulled  her  blanket  up  over 
her  head,  placed  her  face  in  her  hands  and  remained 
perfectly  motionless  for  a  long  time.  At  last  Mrs. 
Parkman  went  to  her,  and,  to  attract  her  attention, 
raised  her  blanket,  and  saw  the  wound  on  Meha's 
shoulder.  Then  she  realized  the  heroism  of  the  brave 
girl,  who  had  received  the  stab  intended  for  her  hus 
band,  and,  though  sorely  wounded,  had  led  them  to  a 
place  of  safety. 


CHAPTEK  VIII. 
A  WOMAN'S  CONQUEST. 

ED  IRON  and  his  men,  delegated  to  inter 
view  Major  Hodson,  started  out,  struck  the 
trail  and  followed  on.  After  a  few  miles 
they  saw  the  Major's  command  returning. 
They  halted  on  a  hill-top  in  plain  view,  and  waved  a 
piece  of  white  cloth.  Then  Red  Iron  went  forward 
with  his  interpreter.  He  told  Major  Hodson  that  he 
was  a  friend  of  the  whites  and  wanted  to  have  a  talk 


88  A  WOMAN'S  CONQUEST. 

with  him.  After  some  friendly  words  from  Major 
Hodson,  he  signaled  for  the  rest  of  the  delegation  to 
come  forward. 

A  long  council  followed,  during  which  Red  Iron 
made  several  set  speeches.  One  was  as  follows  : 

"  I  have  always  been  a  friend  of  the  whites.  When 
others  counseled  war,  I  would  not  agree  to  it.  I  cannot 
fight  the  whites  if  I  desired  to.  I  have  but  few  warriors. 
The  Great  Father  has  so  many  no  man  can  count 
them.  I  will  do  anything  the  Great  Father  says.  This 
country  is  mine.  I  will  give  part  of  it  to  the  whites, 
if  I  can  keep  the  remainder.  My  tribe  has  many  horses 
and  cattle.  "We  can  watch  them,  and  live  happy,  and 
at  peace.  We  are  ignorant,  and  the  whites  know,  it 
seems  to  me,  almost  everything.  I  am  old  and  cannot 
learn,  but  my  children  can  learn,  and  I  want  them  to 
know  the  ways  of  the  whites.  These  other  Indians 
have  gone  to  war.  They  did  not  consult  me  about  it. 
They  knew  I  would  not  agree  to  it.  Other  tribes  will 
join  with  them,  and  there  will  be  a  long  war.  The 
war  will  be  right  in  this  country  where  I  live,  and  I  am 
afraid  that  the  soldiers  will  not  know  rny  people  from 
them  and  kill  them.  Tell  me  what  to  do  to  have  peace, 
and  I  will  do  it.  I  have  some  warriors.  I  will  give 
you  some  to  fight  these  bad  Indians.  I  do  not  say  that 
the  Indians  are  all  wrong  and  the  whites  all  right,  but 
I  am  very  angry  at  them  that  they  have  gone  to  war. 
There  is  a  better  way.  The  Great  Father  sent  his 
commissioners  to  me,  and  they  said  they  wanted  peace, 
and  I  made  a  treaty  with  them.  I  said  I  would  always 
live  in  peace  with  the  whites,  and  I  will  keep  my 


A  WOMAN'S  CONQUEST.  89 

treaty.  The  commissioners  said  the  Great  Father  would 
send  us  presents  twice  each  year,  if  I  would  give  him 
the  part  of  my  country  which  was  on  the  other  side  of 
the  river.  The  presents  have  not  come.  But  the  Great 
Father  has  many  tilings  to  attend  to.  lie  lias  forgotten 
it,  but  some  day  he  will  remember  it  and  then  he  will 
send  them.  My  heart  does  not  feel  bad  about  it.  If 
my  tribe  can  be  at  peace,  I  will  do  whatever  you  say. 
One  white  man  and  two  women  were  in  Badger's 
camp,  and  they  tried  to  kill  them.  This  has  made  me 
very  angry.  An  Indian  woman  "brought  them  to  my 
village  and  I  have  given  them  a  tent  and  food.  They 
can  live  with  us  as  long  as  they  want  to.  If  they  want 
to  go  back  I  will  take  them. 

"  My  little  children  play  around  our  tents.  My  young 
women  have  glad  hearts.  The  older  women  look  at 
them  and  laugh.  My  young  men  count  their  ponies 
and  find  there  is  a  great  number.  We  are  happy,  and 
I  want  to  live  in  peace.  When  I  die,  let  it  be  said  that 
lied  Iron  never  raised  his  hand  against  a  white  man.  If 
I  knew  of  anything  I  could  do  to  make  the  whites 
know  I  am  their  friend,  I  would  do  it.  It  is  true  that 
some  of  my  people  have  bad  hearts,  because  the  presents 
have  not  come  which  the  Great  Father  promised.  But 
none  dare  disobey  me.  After  awhile  the  presents  will 
corne  and  then  they  will  know  that  I  was  right.  I 
have  come  to  ask  you  what  I  shall  do  to  keep  out  of 
this  war." 

Red  Iron  was  tall,  graceful  and  courtly  in  his  bear 
ing.  He  had  a  mild  expression,  and  a  personal 
magnetism  about  him  which  won  the  confidence  of  all 


90  A  WOMAN'S   CONQUEST. 

with  whom  he  came  in  contact.  Major  Hodson  was 
greatly  impressed  by  his  speech.  He  felt  that  every 
word  of  it  was  the  true  sentiment  of  the  old  Indian's 
heart.  He  shook  him  by  the  hand,  and  said  : 

"  I  believe  you  have  spoken  to  me  with  no  double 
tongue.  Your  tribe  shall  not  be  molested  if  I  can 
prevent  it.  But  this  country  here  will  be  the  theater 
of  the  war,  and  many  troops  will  be  marching  over  it. 
I  think  you  had  better  move  your  tribe  up  on  the 
Elkhorn.  You  can  live  there,  and  be  out  of  danger.  I 
am  glad  to  hear  that  those  white  people  are  in  your 
camp.  I  thought  they  had  either  been  killed  or  carried 
off  by  Badger.  I  wish  you  would  send  them  across 
the  river  to  Council  Bluffs.  You  had  better  move  up 
on  the  Elkhorn  river  right  away." 

Red  Iron  made  particular  inquiries  about  just  the 
place  on  the  Elkhorn  that  the  Major  desired  him  to  go, 
and  the  council  broke  up.  The  next  morning  he  had 
his  whole  tribe  on  the  march  for  the  spot  designated, 
and  after  they  were  located  sent  down  and  asked  that 
an  officer  be  sent  to  see  if  he  was  in  the  right  place. 

Shortly  after  Red  Iron  left  Major  Hodson  a  courier 
came  with  orders.  A  large  body  of  troops  had  arrived, 
the  general  commanding  the  department  having  for 
warded  all  the  troops  he  could  spare  from  other  points. 
They  were  in  command  of  Colonel  Greene.  Colonel 
Greene  was  called  upon  immediately  by  Perkins  and 
several  other  "  prominent  citizens  "  (all  contractors),  and 
all  the  information  he  had  was  their  version  of  the 
story.  Perkins  offered  him  the  assistance  of  his 
company  of  volunteers,  which  was  declined.  This  set 


A  WOMAN'S  CONQUEST.  91 

the  Governor,  who  had  come  in  person,  and  all  the 
newspapers,  to  denouncing  Colonel  Greene.  They  were 
unanimously  of  the  opinion  that  one  company  of 
western  frontiersmen  was  worth  more  than  a  whole 
regiment  of  regular  cavalry  in  fighting  Indians.  The 
orders  which  Major  Hodson  received  instructed  him  to 
press  the  fighting,  and  strike  a  decisive  blow,  if  possible, 
against  Badger's  band.  So  Major  Hodson  started  to 
reinforce  Lieutenant  Hinkle. 

When  Red  Iron  returned  to  his  camp,  he  first  set 
himself  about  performing  his  promise  to  send  the  white 
people  over  the  river.  He  owned  a  spring  wagon, 
which  among  the  Indians  was  a  possession  of  which  the 
whole  tribe  was  proud.  He  sent  his  interpreter  to  tell 
them,  and  the  interpreter  brought  back  the  astounding 
information  that  they  refused  to  go.  Eed  Iron  could 
not  understand  it,  and  it  caused  him  the  greatest  anxiety. 
If  they  were  not  returned  to  their  friends  it  might  get 
him  into  trouble,  so  he  went  to  them  himself.  He 
said : 

"  My  friends :  It  makes  my  heart  feel  good  that 
you  like  my  people,  and  desire  to  live  with  us.  If  it 
were  not  for  this  war  I  would  make  a  big  feast,  and  we 
would  all  rejoice.  But  if  you  do  not  go  the  officer  will 
say  I  did  not  keep  my  word.  I  will  give  you  five 
ponies  to  take  back,  and  when  the  war  is  over  you  can 
come  again  and  live  with  us  always." 

"We  would  be  glad  to  go,"  said  Mr.  Parkman,  "  but 
I  cannot  persuade  my  wife  to  leave  this  poor  wounded 
girl,  who  risked  her  own  life  to  save  mine." 


92  A  WOMAN'S  CONQUEST. 

Although  this  was  correctly  interpreted,  Red  Iron 
was  as  much  in  the  dark  as  ever.  He  replied  : 

"  Why  don't  you  tell  her  to  go  ?  If  I  want  my  wife 
to  do  anything,  I  tell  her  to  do  it,  and  she  does  it." 

Mr.  Parkmaii  thought  of  the  note  he  had  written  in 
his  memorandum-book  about  the  degradation  of  women 
among  the  heathen.  But  Red  Iron  was  much  more 
astonished  when  Mrs.  Parkman  came  up  to  him  and 
said,  in  her  sweet  and  quiet  way  : 

"  Brother  Red  Iron  "  (the  Methodists  call  everybody 
brother  or  sister,  and  it  becomes  such  a  habit  with 
them  they  are  not  conscious  half  of  the  time  that  they  do 
it),  "  Brother  Red  Iron,  God  teaches  us  in  his  holy  book 
that  we  must  do  good  to  all  men,  and  his  Son,  when  he 
was  in  the  world,  told  a  parable  about  a  wounded  man 
who  lay  by  the  roadside,  and  many  men  passed  by  on 
the  other  side  of  the  way  and  did  not  help  him.  God 
is  angry  with  every  one  who  does  that  way.  Here  is 
this  poor  wounded  girl.  If  I  should  go  away  and  leave 
her,  God  would  be  very  angry  with  me.  Please  let  me 
stay  and  take  care  of  her  until  she  is  well,  and  then  we 
will  go.  I  won't  make  you  any  trouble  at  all." 

This  was  something  that  Red  Iron  was  not  prepared 
for.  He  replied : 

"  But  I  have  received  orders  to  move  away  from 
here.  We  are  to  go  two  days'  journey  further  away 
from  the  whites." 

"  Where  she  goes  I  will  go,"  said  Mrs.  Parkman, 
"  and  her — "  She  was  unconsciously  repeating  Scripture, 
but  when  she  was  about  to  say  "  her  God  shall  be  my 
God  "  she  hesitated,  and  thought,  "  is  the  God  of  the 


A  WOMAN'S  CONQUEST.  93 

Indian  girl  my  God  ?"  "  Yes,  lie  is,"  said  she  mentally, 
and  then  she  went  on : 

"  Where  she  goes  will  I  go,  her  God  shall  be  my 
God,  and  her  people  shall  be  my  people.  Do  you 
know,  Red  Iron,  that  one  God  made  us  all,  and  he 
loves  us  all  ?  He  wants  us  to  live  in  peace,  to  do  good 
to  one  another,  to  love  one  another,  and  do  you  know 
that  he  is  preparing  a  place  for  us,  and  by  and  by,  he 
will  take  us  all  there.  We  shall  live  on  the  banks  of  a 
beautiful  river.  No  wicked  men  can  ever  come  there. 
There  will  nevermore  be  any  sickness  or  death  or 
hunger  or  thirst.  Our  hearts  will  never  be  sad,  for 
God  will  wipe  all  the  tears  from  our  eyes.  Won't 
you  promise  to  go  to  that  beautiful  place  with  me,  Red 
Iron?" 

The  beauty  of  her  countenance,  the  earnestness  of 
her  manner,  the  heavenly  sweetness  which  came  over 
her  face,  sent  a  thrill  through  the  old  Indian's  heart 
which  he  had  never  felt  before,  although  he  had  to 
wait  to  hear  it  all  interpreted  sentence  by  sentence. 
He  replied : 

"  I  would  go,  but  I  do  not  know  the  way  there." 

"  Then  let  us  stay  and  we  will  teach  you  the  way," 
she  said. 

"  I  will  do  anything  you  say,"  said  Red  Iron. 

The  weakness  and  gentleness  of  a  delicate  woman 
.  had  conquered.  Nothing  would  give  Red  Iron  greater 
pleasure  than  to  obey  her.  She  wielded  a  power  stronger 
than  the  dictates  of  councils,  or  officers,  or  commission 
ers.  He  went  to  his  tent  and  sat  in  silence  for  a  long 
time.  He  named  her  "  Sunshine,"  and  thought  over 


94:  A  WOMAN'S  CONQUEST. 

and  over  all  that  she  had  said.  After  a  while  he  went 
back  again,  and  stood  hesitating  at  the  door  of  the  tent. 
Mr.  Parkman  asked  him  to  come  in.  When  he  had 
seated  himself  and  waited  a  due  length  of  time,  accord 
ing  to  Indian  etiquette,  he  asked  Mr.  Parkman  if  his 
women  and  girls  should  learn  this  way,  "  would  they 
be  like  Sunshine  ?"  "  How  long  would  it  take  them  to 
learn?'  "  Was  it  very  hard  to  learn  it?"  and  many 
other  questions,  to  which  it  was  very  hard  for  Mr. 
Parkman  to  find  answers.  Ked  Iron  finally  concluded 
that  Mr.  Parkman  did  not  know  as  much  as  his  wife 
did. 

Mrs.  Parkman  was  writing  on  some  of  the  blank 
leaves  of  Mr.  Parkman's  memorandum  book.  When 
she  had  finished  she  folded  them  np  and  gave  them  to 
.Red  Iron,  and  asked  him  if  he  would  not  send  them 
over  to  the  town,  saying  it  was  a  letter  to  tell  the  white 
people  where  they  were,  and  why  they  did  not  come 
back.  The  chief  then  asked  Mr.  Parkman  to  write  a 
letter  to  the  military  officer  there,  and  tell  him  why  he 
did  not  bring  them  back,  which  Mr.  Parkman  did. 
The  next  morning  they  were  placed  in  Red  Iron's 
spring  wagon,  and  went  with  the  tribe  to  the  new  loca 
tion. 


HARVEST.  95 


CHAPTEK  IX. 

THE   CONTEACTOES'   HAEVEST. 

HE  first  thing  Major  Hod  son  did  after  his 
arrival  on  the  field  which  had  been  so 
bitterly  contested  by  brave  Captain  Hinkle 
and  his  heroic  handful  of  men,  was  to  care 
for  the  wounded  and  then  bury  the  dead.  The  loss 
was  nineteen  killed  and  mortally  wounded  and  twelve 
wounded,  with  a  total  loss  of  all  the  horses  of  the  first 
command.  A  scouting  party  of  fifteen  men  were  sent 
on  after  the  fleeing  Indians.  They  followed  the  trail 
for  about  twelve  miles,  when  it  broke  in  every  direc 
tion.  The  Indians  had  separated  into  small  parties, 
with  the  intention  of  meeting  at  some  appointed 
rendezvous.  Major  Hodson's  horses  were  worn  out,  he 
had  but  a  day  and  one-half  full  rations  left,  and  he  was 
nearly  two  hundred  miles  from  his  base  of  supplies.  It 
was  absolutely  necessary  for  him  to  return.  When  he 
got  back  and  the  news  of  the  battle  and  its  results 
became  known,  the  military  were  furiously  assaulted  by 
the  Governor.  The  battle  was  called  a  cold-blooded 
massacre,  and  a  general  cry  was  raised  for  the  ex 
termination  of  all  the  Indians  in  the  south-west.  Colonel 
Greene  was  denounced  as  an  incompetent,  and  a  military 
martinet,  and  his  refusal  to  accept  the  services  of 
Perkins's  company  was  set  down  as  proof  positive  that 
he  was  unfit  for  the  position  he  occupied.  Colonel 


96 

Greene  forwarded  his  formal  official  reports  to  his 
commanding  officer,  but  made  no  defense  of  his  con 
duct.  He  was  an  old  officer,  grown  gray  in  the  service 
of  his  country,  and  he  knew  there  was  a  long  and 
costly  war  on  hand,  and  that  it  was  not  to  be  fought 
out  with  newspaper  articles  or  one  company  of  militia. 
He  recommended  the  erection  of  a  fortified  fort  on  the 
Little  Blue,  to  be  well  provisioned  and  garrisoned. 
From  this  as  a  base,  expeditions  could  be  made  into 
the  heart  of  the  Indian  country,  their  villages  de 
stroyed,  and  the  bands  so  harassed  and  punished  as  to 
bring  them  into  subjection.  His  recommendations 
were  adopted,  and  a  fort  was  commenced  and  pushed 
with  all  vigor,  so  as  to  be  completed,  provisioned  and 
garrisoned  before  winter.  The  site  of  the  fort  was  two 
hundred  miles  from  the  river,  and  all  supplies  had  to 
be  hauled  in  wagons. 

Now  commenced  the  harvest  the  contractors  had 
been  waiting  for.  Freight  was  let  out  by  contract  to 
the  lowest  bidder.  The  contractors  held  a  council  and 
an  arrangement  was  made,  so  that,  in  fact,  there  was  no 
competition.  The  first  bids  were  all  rejected  by  the 
quartermaster  as  too  high.  Then  a  howl  went  up  from 
the  newspapers,  the  Governor,  the  friends  of  the  con 
tractors,  the  hundreds  of  men  who  were  waiting  for 
jobs,  such  as  teamsters,  wagon-masters,  etc.,  as  was 
never  heard  before.  The  fort  would  not  be  built  in 
time,  the  whole  country  would  be  over-run  by  Indians, 
thousands  of  lives  would  be  lost,  and  the  settlement  of 
the  country  set  back  for  a  generation.  A  delegation 
started  for  Washington  immediately,  to  impress  upon 


HARVEST.  97 

the  President  the  importance  of  removing  Colcnel 
Greene  from  the  command.  Bids  were  advertised  for, 
a  second  time.  They  were  a  shade  less  extortionate 
than  before,  and  as  time  was  pressing  they  were  ac 
cepted.  Then  another  delegation  was  started  to  Wash 
ington  to  overhaul  the  first,  and  change  the  programme. 
The  contracts  were  let,  and  things  were  all  right.  Cav 
alry  company  after  company  kept  arriving.  Corn, 
which  at  the  commencement  of  the  trouble  was  worth 
only  ten  cents  a  bushel,  went  up  to  a  dollar.  The  Mis 
souri  river  was  lower  than  ever  before  (so  the  contrac 
tors  said),  and  it  was  almost  impossible  for  the  boats  to 
get  up  it  at  all,  and  contracts  could  not  be  made  for 
transportation  for  less  than  five  times  the  amount  asked 
two  months  before.  Business  in  Council  Bluffs  was 
"  booming."  Everybody  discussed  Indians.  They 
were  red  devils.  They  were  blood-thirsty  beasts. 
They  cut  out  the  hearts  of  their  victims  and  ate  them. 
They  ate  the  entrails  of  animals  without  cleaning  them. 
The  "  bucks,"  as  they  called  them,  did  nothing  but 
roam  over  the  country  and  hunt  for  scalps  during  the 
day,  and  return  home  at  night  and  beat  their  "  squaws" 
with  war-clubs.  They  were  so  dirty  that  you  could 
smell  one  of  their  villages  five  miles.  In  fact,  they 
were  not  human,  but  a  sort  of  wild  beast,  and  there 
was  no  more  harm  in  killing  one  of  them  than  in  kill 
ing  a  wolf — and  in  all  the  cityf  ull  of  people  there  was 
not  one  to  dissent  to  any  of  these  statements. 

It  was  four  weeks  before  the  expedition  was  ready 
to  start.     It  was  composed  of  three  regiments  of  cav 
alry  and  one  of  infantry.     A  block-house  had  been  built 
.    5 


98  MEIIA    DECEIVED. 

at  the  mouth  of  the  Elkhoni  on  some  earthworks 
thrown  up.  Two  companies  were  stationed  there.  A 
hospital,  stables  for  the  horses,  barracks  for  the  men, 
and  quarters  for  the  officers,  were  built  in  a  very  short 
time.  The  work  was  mostly  done  by  the  soldiers  them 
selves.  In  this  hospital  Lieutenant  Blake  and  the  others 
wounded  from  the  battle  of  the  Little  Blue  were  left. 
No  one  not  aequainted  with  such  expeditions  can  im 
agine  what  an  enormous  amount  of  freight  must  be 
transported.  The  trains  stretched  out  for  miles  over 
the  prairie.  The  progress  must  be  extremely  slow  even 
in  a  prairie  country.  Streams  must  be  bridged,  banks 
in  the  deep  "  draws"  must  be  cut  down,  and  in  some 
places  wells  must  be  dug,  from  seventy-five  to  a  hundred 
feet  deep,  to  furnish  water  at  the  end  of  each  day's 
march.  The  stopping  places  for  other  trains,  which 
are  to  come  afterward,  are  all  located  as  the  command 
proceeds.  It  was  nearly  a  month  after  the  command 
started  before  the  site  for  the  fort  was  located  and  work 
was  commenced. 


CHAPTER  X. 

MEIIA     DECEIVED. 

the  banks  of  the  Elkhorn,  with  the  endless 
rolling  prairie  stretching  to  the  west,  and  the 
ever-advancing    white   settlements    to   the 
east,  Red  Iron  made  his  new  location,  in 
accordance  with  the  directions  received  from  the  officers. 


MEHA     DECEIVED.  99 

His  tribe  was  rich,  as  riches  are  accounted  among 
Indians.  They  were  at  peace  with  the  whites,  and  with 
other  Indian  tribes.  There  was  plenty  of  water  and 
grass  and  timber  near  at  hand.  Not  far  to  the  north 
west  were  elk  and  deer  and  endless  herds  of  buffalo.  It 
was  time  for  the  beginning  of  the  fall  hunt.  Nearly 
all  of  the  active  men  and  many  of  the  women  and  chil 
dren  went  on  a  hunt.  The  old  and  infirm,  and  enough 
well  and  active  to  take  care  of  the  stock,  remained  be 
hind.  It  was  a  gala  day,  and  had  been  preceded  with 
games  of  all  sorts  and  a  big  feast.  There  had  been  horse 
races,  foot  races,  wrestling  matches,  "  shinny,"  and  all 
sorts  of  fun.  The  whole  tribe  was  happy,  and  the  families 
parted,  doing  all  sorts  of  foolish  things  for  "  good  luck," 
some  to  go  on  the  hunt  and  some  to  stay  at  home. 

Meha's  wound  had  healed,  and  she  was  bright  and 
happy.  Mrs.  Parkman  had  won  her  heart.  When  it 
was  proposed  that  the  three  white  people  should  go 
back  to  Council  Bluffs,  not  only  Meha,  but  many 
others,  shed  bitter  tears.  They  were  given  many 
presents,  and  the  thought  of  parting  with  them  cast  a 
gloom  over  all  the  village.  Meha  refused  to  be  com 
forted.  At  last  Mrs.  Parkman,  moved  by  Meha's  deep 
grief,  proposed  that  she  go  with  them  and  stay  until 
spring.  Mr.  Parkman  was  very  anxious  to  devote  his 
life  to  work  among  the  Indians,  but  he  must  wait  for 
the  church  authorities  to  sanction  it.  He  thought,  if 
Meha  would  go  with  them,  he  could  learn  the  language 
from  her.  She  had  already  learned  a  great  many 
English  words  from  Mrs.  Parkman,  and  pronounced 
them  all  perfectly  correctly.  So  Meha  went  with 


100  MEIIA.    DECEIVED. 

them.  They  went  down  the  Elkhorn  to  the  block 
house  and  stopped  there  over  night. 

Lieutenant  Blake  was  still  suffering  from  his  wound, 
and  was  not  able  to  walk.  Besides  him  there  were 
many  others  wounded,  and  some  sick  in  the  hospital. 
A  great  pressure  was  brought  to  bear  upon  Mr.  Park- 
man  to  remain  there,  and  he  finally  got  permission  of 
his  presiding  elder  to  do  so. 

Lieutenant  Blake's  long  confinement  had  made  him 
morose  and  melancholy,  and  to  keep  up  his  spirits  he 
had  drank,  pretty  regularly,  more  than  the  Government 
ration  of  whisky.  He  was  not  the  man  he  was  six 
months  before.  He  needed  an  attendant,  and  when  he 
saw  Meha  he  thought  it  would  be  a  good  thing  to  se 
cure  her  services  for  himself  and  another  officer  who 
was  just  recovering  from  a  long  siege  of  typhoid  fever. 
Meha  came  ;  she  watched  with  them  by  day,  and  stayed 
with  Mrs.  Parkman  at  night.  Lieutenant  Blake 
amused  himself  with  her  a  great  deal.  At  first  she  was 
too  bashful  to  talk,  but  little  by  little  it  wore  off.  He 
pretended  to  learn  the  Indian  language  from  her,  and 
she  really  tried  to  learn  English  from  him.  Then 
he  taught  her  to  play  games,  backgammon,  check 
ers  and  cards.  Sometimes  when  her  hand  lay  careless 
ly  upon  the  board  he  would  take  hold  of  it.  He  was 
amused  to  see  the  hot  blood  rush  to  her  cheeks,  and 
show  even  through  her  brown  skin. 

There  is  a  wondrous  mystery  in  a  woman's  heart, 
which  no  science  has  fathomed.  And  this  is  as  true  of 
the  Indian  girl  on  the  plains  as  of  the  educated  and  re 
fined  daughter  of  the  eastern  merchant  prince.  Little 


MEHA    DECEIVED.  101 

Meha  stood  in  awe  of  Lieutenant  Blake  at  first.  He 
was  the  wondrous  white  chief,  the  bold  and  gallant  war 
rior,  so  far  away  and  above  her  that  she  could  only  look 
on  him  and  admire.  Then,  as  in  e very-day  life  she 
came  in  closer  contact  with  him,  learned  to  speak  his  lan 
guage,  and  he  grew  to  take  more  and  more  notice  of  her, 
strange  thoughts  came  into  her  mind.  She  tried  harder 
than  ever  to  be  like  the  white  women.  She  put  up  her 
hair  ;  she  took  off  the  large  brass  rings  which  she  had 
worn,  and  dressed  as  near  as  she  could  like  Mrs.  Park- 
man.  The  metamorphosis  in  her  personal  appearance 
was  wonderful.  She  was  now  a  shy,  bashful,  very  dark 
brunette,  with  the  natural  dignity  and  grace  of  her  peo 
ple. 

One  day  Lieutenant  Blake  received  orders  to  join 
his  company.  He  sent  for  Meha  and  told  her  he  was 
going  away,  and  said  to  her,  "  I  have  no  wife,  would 
you  like  to  go  with  me  and  be  my  wife  ?" 

She  said,  in  broken  English,  she  would  go  and  tell 
Mrs.  Parkman.  Her  father  was  dead  and  her  mother 
was  with  Badger's  band,  she  had  no  brother  or  sister, 
and  she  had  no  one  else  to  tell.  That  was  her  home, 
and  he  must  come  there  and  get  her.  Then  she  would 
go  with  him. 

The  Lieutenant  replied,  that  the  ambulance  in 
which  he  was  to  go  was  ready.  He  had  said  good 
bye  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Parkman  and  all  the  officers.  If 
she  was  to  be  his  wife,  she  must  get  in  the  ambulance 
and  go  then.  He  was  going  through  a  big  town,  and 
he  would  buy  her  a  great  many  nice  dresses  and  every 
thing  she  wanted.  He  would  always  be  good  to  her. 


102  A    BIDE    FOR    LIFE. 

By  and  by,  after  the  war  was  over,  he  would  try  to 
find  her  mother  and  she  should  come  and  live  with 
them.  He  put  his  arm  around  her  and  kissed  her. 
They  walked  toward  the  door,  and — and  Meha  got  in 
the  ambulance  with  him  and  rode  away. 

After  they  had  started  Meha  looked  up  to  Lieutenant 
Blake  and  said : 

"  Is  this  the  way  the  white  people  do  ?  Is  this  the 
way  they  marry  ?" 

"They  have  a  great  many  different  forms,"  said 
Lieutenant  Blake,  "  and  I  suppose  this  is  as  good  as  any." 


CHAPTER  XL 

A   EIDE   FOR  LIFE. 

ORAGE  for  twenty-five  hundred  horses, 
rations  for  three  thousand  three  hundred 
men,  for  six  months.  What  an  enormous 
quantity  it  takes!  Besides  this,  supplies 
for  fifteen  hundred  civilians,  wagon-masters,  teamsters 
and  hangers-on.  It  soon  took  all  the  products  of  the 
farmers  in  that  sparsely-settled  country,  for  a  hundred 
miles  around.  Corn  and  pork  and  beef,  for  which  there 
was  before  no  market  at  all,  brought  prices  far  above 
what  the  produce  could  have  been  sold  for,  after 
transportation  to  New  York.  There  was  not  a  human 
being  in  a  radius  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  who 
was  not  directly  interested  in  that  Indian  war.  On 


A    RIDE    FOB    LIFE.  103 

this  self-interest  the  hatred  of  the  Indian  race  was  fed, 
until  it  became  second  nature.     It  was   instilled  into 
the  children,  and  fair  young  girls  gave  utterance   to 
sentiments  concerning  them  that,  under  other  circum 
stances,  would  be  thought  a  disgrace  to  Feejee  islanders. 
All  the  horse  thieves  and  robbers  in  that  section  of 
the  country  congregated  in  proximity  to  the  scene  of 
war.     Around  Council  Bluffs,  to  the  south  and  east  and 
north  of  it,  a  great  many  horses  were  stolen.     It  was 
all  accounted  to  be  done  by  the  Indians.     Red  Iron's 
tribe  were  the  ones  who  were  doing  it,  without  doubt, 
was  the  accepted  theory,  and  they  must  be  punished. 
The  matter  was  laid  before  the  military  officers ;  they 
made  a  thorough  investigation,  and  ascertained  beyond 
the  possibility  of  a  mistake  that  the  old  chief  and  his 
men  were  sacredly  keeping  their  compact   of  peace. 
Then  the  military  were  denounced  again.      They  were 
harboring  savages  almost  in  the  very  midst  of  the  inno 
cent  and   unprotected    settlers,    who    might   at  any 
moment,  scalp,  burn,  and  murder  without  let  or  hinder- 
ance.     It  was  not  in  human  nature  to  endure  it,  and  it 
would  not  be  endured,  was  the  substance  of  the  whole 
discussion  of  the  subject. 

Red  Iron's  band  of  women  and  children,  the  old  and 
infirm,  were  quietly  sleeping  in  their  tents  beneath  the 
still  star-light.  The  old  men  dreamed  of  the  happy 
days  that  were  gone,  and  the  young  of  the  happy 
days  to  come.  Mothers  unconsciously  hugged  their 
babes  to  their  bosoms.  Not  a  breath  of  air  was 
moving.  The  bright  stars  twinkled  above  the  silent 
camp.  A  hundred  armed  white  men  crept  up  through 


104  A    HIDE    FOK    LIFE. 

the  timber.  There  were  no  sentinels  to  give  warning, 
for  they  slept  in  perfect  confidence  in  the  white 
man's  word.  There  was  a  sudden  volley  and  leaden 
missiles  pierced  every  tent.  Then  into  the  tents  they 
rushed.  Mother  and  babe,  young  men  and  maidens, 
old  men  and  little  children,  alike  were  soon  writhing 
in  the  agony  of  death,  before  the  smoking  revolvers. 
No  resistance  was  made  and  not  one  was  spared.  Many 
of  them  were  scalped  and  their  scalps  tied  to  the  horses' 
bridle  bits.  All  their  little  store  of  wealth  was  taken 
and  all  their  ponies.  The  bodies  were  left  where  they 
were  slain,  to  be  food  for  the  wolves.  Perkins  led  his 
gallant  band  of  brave  men  back,  after  his  "  glorious 
victory,"  and  received  the  plaudits  of  the  whole  coun 
try  round  about.  It  is  true  that  the  people  believed 
these  Indians  to  be  guilty,  and  the  men  who  wron  the 
"  victory  "  never  gave  the  details.  They  said  they  had 
"  surprised  an  Indian  village  and  destroyed  it." 

There  was  one  man  who  was  not  satisfied  with  the  ac 
count  given  by  Perkins,  and  that  was  the  lawyer,  Wil- 
mot.  A  keen  and  sharp  thinker,  a  close  reasoner  and  a 
good  judge  of  men,  he  was  not  to  be  deceived  by  such 
an  improbable  tale,  that  a  whole  Indian  village  could  be 
attacked,  captured  and  sacked  without  the  loss  of  a 
man.  It  would  not  have  been  safe  for  him  to  say  so  in 
public,  and  Wilmot,  being  a  prudent  man,  did  not  ex 
press  any  opinion  on  the  subject.  He  resolved  to  ride 
over  to  the  block-house,  and  see  what  the  officer  in  com 
mand  there  thought  about  Perkins's  "victory." 

Arriving  there,  he  found  that  the  military  had  heard 
nothing  about  the  matter,  but  the  officer  said  instantly  : 


A    RIDE     FOR    LIFE.  105 

<;  I  know  what  he  has  done.  Ked  Iron  and  his  able  men 
are  all  on  a  hunt,  and  Perkins  has  crept  up  on  a  band 
of  helpless  old  men,  women  and  children,  and  murdered 
them  in  cold  blood.  It  is  nothing  but  murder,  sir, 
cold-blooded  murder;  a  crime  which  would  be  a  disgrace 
to  savages,  and  which  will  bring  retribution  upon  us  all. 
Red  Iron  had  offered  to  help  me  defend  this  post,  and 
the  Colonel  had  relied  on  his  aid  in  case  we  were  at 
tacked.  I  haven't  a  dozen  fighting  men  here,  having 
sent  a  heavy  guard  with  the  last  train.  If  I  had  the 
power  I  would  court-martial  Perkins  and  his  band  of 
assassins,  take  them  out  and  send  for  Red  Iron  to  come 
and  shoot  them  dead  in  their  tracks.  That  is  what  jus 
tice  demands,  and  that  is  what  I  would  do  if  I  could.  I 
ought  to  have  the  power  to  do  it.  In  any  other  coun 
try  an  officer  set  to  guard  a  frontier  would  have  some 
authority ;  but  this  infernal  Indian  system  of  ours  is  a 
mass  of  contradictions.  It  isn't  war  we  are  engaged  in 
at  all.  It  is  a  sort  of  murdering,  marauding,  banditti 
affair,  in  which  every  man  can  take  a  hand  to  suit  him 
self."  Here  the  officer  used  some  adjectives  concern 
ing  Perkins  which  were  more  emphatic  than  polite, 

"  Excuse  my  '  French,' "  he  said,  "  but  Perkins  has 
not  only  murdered  a  band  of  Indian  women  and  chil 
dren,  but  he  has  murdered  all  at  this  post,  in  all  likeli 
hood.  As  soon  as  this  massacre  spreads  abroad,  all  these 
Indians  to  the  north-west  will  be  down  upon  us.  Red 
Iron  and  his  warriors  will  be  turned  from  friends  to 
fiends,  thirsting  for  vengeance,  to  lead  them  on." 

Here  some  more  "  French  "  was  resorted  to  in  giv 
ing  a  second  opinion  of  Perkins,  which,  however,  did 
5* 


106  A     EIDE    FOE    LIFE. 

not  differ  much  from  the  one  before  expressed,  and  tlje 
officer  walked  away  and  commenced  to  prepare  imme 
diately  for  a  vigorous  defense. 

Captain  Belfor  got  an  ambulance,  put  four  of  the 
best  horses  to  it,  told  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Parkman,  Lawyer 
Wilmot  and  the  young  lady  to  get  in,  and  get  across 
the  river  to  Council  Bluffs  as  soon  as  possible,  for  there 
was  no  telling  what  minute  the  post  might  be  attacked 
by  the  Indians,  and  in  that  case  it  was  no  place  for  wo 
men  or  civilians.  On  going  to  the  ambulance,  Mr.  Wil 
mot  was  introduced  to  Miss  Jennie  Walker.  The  driver 
was  told  to  get  the  best  time  out  of  those  horses  there 
was  in  them.  They  dashed  out  of  the  post  and  over 
the  prairie  on  a  keen  run.  Half  the  distance  had  been 
made  when,  on  looking  back,  they  saw  riding  after 
them  a  hundred  savages,  naked,  except  breech-cloth  and 
moccasins,  daubed  with  paint  and  furious  with  rage. 
The  driver  plied  his  whip,  the  foam-covered  horses  sped 
onward,  the  wheels  spun  around  like  tops.  In  crossing 
a  draw  the  right  front  wheel  struck  a  bank,  and  was 
knocked  into  splinters.  The  front  of  the  box  dragged 
on  the  ground.  Wilmot  sprang  out,  and  called  out, 
"  Cut  loose  the  horses."  In  less  than  a  minute  they 
were  free  from  the  ambulance,  and  the  driver  mounted 
one  and  ran  away.  Wilmot  held  two  of  the  horses  by 
the  bits,  and  Mr.  Parkman  the  other. 

"  Put  your  wife  on  this  horse,"  said  Wilmot  to  Mr. 
Parkman,  and  in  a  moment  she  was  on  its  back.  The 
two  men  then  mounted  the  other  two  horses.  Miss 
Walker  was  running  down  the  road,  wild  with  fright. 
As  Wilmot  came  along  by  her  side  he  checked  his 


A     EIDE     FOR    LIFE.  107 

liorse,  and,  stooping,  took  her  by  the  arms,  close  to  the 
shoulders,  and  said  "jump,"  and  she  was  seated  in 
front  of  him  on  his  horse.  This  accident  had  allowed 
the  Indians  to  come  almost  within  rifle  range.  Indeed, 
a  few  shots  were  fired.  The  American  horses  on 
which  the  party  was  mounted  out-ran  the  Indians' 
ponies,  and  gradually  the  gap  between  them  was 
widened.  Two  or  three  miles  from  the  river  they  came 
upon  the  first  settlements.  They  could  only  ^y  out  to 
them  "The  Indians  are  coming,"  and  press  onward. 
They  reached  the  ferry  in  safety.  Mrs.  Parkman 
alighted  from  her  horse  and  stood  on  the  deck  erect, 
calm  and  dignified.  Poor  Miss  Walker  had  long  lain 
limp  in  Wilmot's  arms,  perfectly  unconscious.  A 
blanket  was  spread  out  on  the  deck  of  the  boat,  and 
she  was  laid  upon  it. 

Mrs.  Parkman  approached  Wilmot,  and  said : 

"  Cannot  something  be  done  to  aid  the  settlers  on 
the  west  side  of  the  river  2" 

"  I  am  afraid  it  is  too  late,"  he  said,  sadly. 

Great  excitement  was  occasioned  in  town  upon 
their  arrival.  Wilmot  sought  out  Perkins  and  plead 
with  him  to  take  his  company  of  volunteers,  and  cross 
the  river  for  the  protection  of  settlers  and  succor  of 
Captain  Belfor.  Perkins  was  suddenly  taken  sick,  and 
not  <-a  man  of  all  his  heroes  could  be  mustered,  now 
that  there  was  actual  fighting  to  be  done.  It  was 
proved  afterwards  that  Perkins  took  nearly  a  teaspoon- 
ful  of  ipecacuanha  and  half  a  box  of  pills. 

Wilmot  could  not  drive  away  from  his  mind  the 
wild  and  terrified  look  of  the  women  and  little  children 


108  A     EIDE    FOR    LIFE. 

he  saw  by  the  road  as  lie  was  dashing  along.  He 
sometimes  cursed  himself  for  a  coward,  that  lie  did  not 
stop,  although  lie  knew  it  would  have  only  been  certain 
death  to  do  so,  not  only  to  himself  but  to  them  also. 

That  night  there  was  a  public  meeting  held,  and 
Wilrnot  addressed  them  as  follows : 

"  Fellows-citizens  :  Affairs  have  arrived  at  a  crisis, 
which  requires  the  wisest  and  most  prudent  action  on 
the  part  of  the  citizens  of  this  part  of  the  country.  I 
cannot  now  discuss,  or  I  may  at  some  future  time,  the 
causes  which  have  brought  this  state  of  affairs  about. 
The  question  for  us  to  decide  to-night  is  :  What  will  we 
do  to  save  the  lives  of.  hundreds  of  innocent  settlers, 
men,  women  and  little  children,  to  whose  homes  is  to 
night  laid  the  torch,  and  over  whose  heads  is  circling 
the  scalping-knife  of  the  savage.  The  men  who  have 
brought  this  calamity  upon  us  have  fled  like  cowards. 
Now  you,  who  have  wives  and  children,  who  have  had 
no  part  in  what  has  passed,  must  take  the  direction  of 
affairs  and  meet  the  Indians  upon  the  field  and  drive 
them  back.  This  will  be  no  raid,  under  the  cover  of 
night,  upon  helpless  women  and  children,  but  it  is  war, 
war  to  the  knife  and  the  knife  to  the  hilt.  The  sky  to 
the  west  is  red.  You  know  what  that  means.  It  is 
from  the  flames  of  burning  cabins  of  settlers.  The 
men  a:;.d  children  have  been  murdered  and  scalped,  and 
the  women  carried  off  prisoners  to  a  fate  worse  than 
death,  and  that  will  be  our  fate  and  the  fate  of  our 
wives  and  children,  unless  we  prepare  to  fight.  There 
is  no  other  recourse  now.  I " 

A  grave  old  gentleman  interrupted  him. 


A     BIDE    FOE     LIFE.  109 

"  I  have,"  said  lie,  "  just  received  a  note  from  the 
Governor,  in  which  he  says  that  as  soon  as  the  official 
papers  can  be  made  out,  a  call  will  be  made  for  the  for 
mation  of  several  companies  of  militia,  and  if  this  meet 
ing  can  take  any  action  to-night  about  organizing,  it 
will  be  so  much  time  gained." 

Wilmot  took  from  his  pocket  a  sheet  of  legal  cap 
paper,  at  the  head  of  which  was  written  a  few  lines. 

"  This  is  not  a  resolution,"  said  he,  "  it  is  an  agree 
ment  of  enlistment  in  the  militia  for  one  year.  I  enlist 
as  a  private,"  and  put  down  his  name. 

One  could  not  help  noticing  the  difference  in  this 
meeting  and  the  first  one  that  was  held  in  regard  to  the 
Indian  troubles.  There  were  no  drunken  men  there, 
and  no  bummers.  It  was  composed  of  the  best  citizens 
of  the  place  and  neighborhood.  The  men  who  put 
their  names  down  on  that  paper  were  men  with  fami 
lies,  men  who  had  some  property,  and  men  who  be 
longed  to  churches,  owned  stores,  supported  schools,  and 
formed  the  solid  framework  of  society.  The  next 
morning,  when  they  went  to  the  rendezvous  appointed, 
to  elect  officers,  the  most  of  them  left  weeping  wives 
and  children  behind. 


110  ON    THE    WAR-PATH. 

CHAPTER  XII. 

ON   THE    WAR-PATH. 


ITIIIN  twenty-four  hours  after  Bed  Iron's 
v/omen  and  children  had  been  slaughtered 
by  Perkins's  tribe  of  white  savages,  the 
hunting  party  returned,  rejoicing  at  the 
successful  result.  They  came  down  the  Elkhorn, 
through  the  timber,  and  saw  nothing  of  the  awful 
tragedy  until  they  stood  on  the  very  spot.  There  the 
bodies,  mangled  by  the  wolves,  laid  before  them.  Red 
Iron  was  speechless.  He  had  always  been  the  friend  of 
the  whites,  and  there  had  always  been  a  large  party  in 
his  tribe  who  had  derided  and  opposed  him.  He  sat 
down,  drew  his  blanket  over  his  head,  and  moved  not  a 
muscle  nor  uttered  a  single  sound.  He  was  wifeless 
and  childless.  Perfect,  absolute  despair  seized  him. 
The  others  burst  out  in  the  wildest  howls  and  groans, 
the  nature  of  which  it  is  perfectly  impossible  to  describe. 
This  soon  gave  way  to  rage  and  ferocity.  The  Head  Sol 
dier  proclaimed  war,  and  orders  were  soon  issued  which 
secured  perfect  quiet.  Still  Red  Iron  said  not  a  word. 
The  chiefs  and  head  men  gathered  around  him.  The 
leader  of  the  opposition  upbraided  him,  and  applied 
every  vile  epithet  which  the  language  contained  to  him. 
He  was  called  a  dog  and  a  coward.  He  had  better  put 
on  a  woman's  dress,  aud  a  hundred  other  things  of  like 
nature.  The  Indian  who  spoke  trembled  with  rage. 


ON    THE    WAR-PATH.  Ill 

Red  Iron's  particular  friends  were  silent.  They  could 
not  say  a  word  in  his  defense. 

At  last  Red  Iron  spoke : 

"  Why  do  you  denounce  me  ?  Have  I  not  suffered 
as  much  as  all  of  you  ?  Are  not  my  wives  and  my 
children  all  dead  ?  Do  I  not  see  their  mangled  bodies 
before  me  ?  What  tribe  was  happier  than  mine  up  to 
the  present  time  ?  Have  you  not  been  rich  while 
others  were  poor  ?  Has  not  my  advice  always  been 
good  ?  Am  I  to  blame  for  this  ?  Is  there  one  of  you 
who  advised  me  not  to  come  here  ?  Did  you  not  all 
rejoice  when  I  made  peace  with  the  white  officer? 
Stand  back  and  obey  my  orders,  or  I  will  kill  every  one 
of  you.  When  the  time  comes  to  tight  wTe  will  see  who 
will  be  brave.  There  has  been  some  mistake.  I  don't 
believe  the  white  officers  have  done  this,  knowing  it  to 
be  Red  Iron's  tribe.  I  will  send  first  and  see.  Then, 
if  they  have,  I  will  hunt  the  whites  and  kill  them  as  I 
would  kill  snakes." 

The  proposition  to  send  a  delegation  before  going 
to  war  raised  an  instant  rebellion.  Most  of  Red  Iron's 
friends  walked  away  from  his  side  and  joined  the  other 
party,  and  after  consulting  together  they  delegated  the 
Head  Soldier  to  speak  their  sentiments.  He  said, 
"  Red  Iron,  you  are  our  chief.  The  white  people  have 
come  and  murdered  our  wives  and  children  without 
cause.  You  are  not  our  friend  if  you  refuse  to  avenge 
this  wrong.  If  you  will  lead  us  to  war  it  is  well,  we 
will  follow  you.  If  not,  we  will  have  a  chief  who  is 
not  a  friend  to  murderers  and  who  will  avenge  our 
wrongs." 


112  TOTALLY     DEPRAVED. 

Red  Iron  knew  what  this  meant.  If  he  did 'not 
lead  them  to  war  they  would  kill  him.  Why  should 
he  die  for  those  who  had  killed  his  wives  and  children  ? 

He  was  too  dignified  to  make  any  reply,  but  he 
commenced  giving  orders  to  the  Head  Soldier  as  if 
nothing  of  the  kind  had  been  spoken.  An  hour  after 
ward  Red  Iron  and  his  whole  tribe  were  on  the  war 
path.  He  made  terrible  work  of  it  on  the  west  side  of 
the  river.  Men,  women  and  children  were  mercilessly 
slaughtered  and  scalped.  Twenty  families,  together 
numbering  more  than  one  hundred  persons,  were  bleed 
ing  and  mangled  corpses  before  the  sun  went  down  that 
night.  About  the  dawn  of  day  the  next  morning  they 
assaulted  the  block-house,  but  Captain  Belfor  held  them 
at  bay  for  over  two  hours,  when  they  beat  a  retreat, 
and  started  with  their  bloody  trophies  toward  the  north 
west,  taking  with  them  the  few  women  and  children 
who  went  on  the  hunt  with  them  and  thus  escaped  the 
Perkins  massacre. 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

TOTALLY    DEPKAVED. 

T  took  but  an  hour  to  elect  the  officers  of  the 
militia  company.  Wilmot  received  his 
commission  from  the  hand  of  the  Governor 
as  Captain.  Before  starting  he  rode  over  to 


Mr.  Parkman's  to  bid  them  good-bye. 


TOTALLY    DEPRAVED.  113 

"  I  am  glad  you  are  going,"  said  Miss  Walker.  "  I 
liope  you  will  kill  every  one  of  them." 

"  Do  you  want  me  to  kill  the  women  and  children  ?" 
asked  Wilmot. 

"What  is  the  use  of  their  living?"  she  replied. 
"They  will  only  raise  more  warriors  to  scalp  white 
people.  The  sooner  they  are  all  dead  the  better." 

"  Those  are  very  harsh  sentiments  for  a  young  lady," 
said  Wilmot,  with  considerable  bitterness  in  his  tone. 

"  If  you  had  seen  poor  little  children  shot,  who  had 
never  done  them  any  harm,  as  I  did  in  the  stage-coach, 
you  would  not  like  Indians  any  better  than  I  do." 

"  Did  not  an  Indian  save  your  life  ?" 

"  Suppose  he  did  ?" 

"  Do  you  want  to  see  that  Indian  killed  ?" 

"  Yes,  I  do.  I  have  no  doubt  that  he  was  the  one 
who  tried  to  stab  Mr.  Parkman  because  he  was  taking 
me  away." 

"  Do  you  want  me  to  kill  Meha  ?" 

"  She  had  better  be  dead  than  leading  the  life  she  is." 

Mr.  Wilmot  was  getting  angry.  He  had  no  idea 
that  the  fair-haired  girl  whom  he  had  held  in  his  arms 
during  that  long  and  fearful  ride  would  entertain,  much 
less  express,  such  sentiments.  He  replied  : 

"  I  don't  think  there  is  much  difference  in  human 
nature,  whether  it  be  red  or  white.  I  suppose  that  is 
about  the  way  the  young  Indian  women  talk  to  the 
warriors  as  they  start  on  the  war-path." 

"Do  you  mean  to  compare  me  to  a  squaw?"  she 
said,  and  her  eyes  flashed  with  indignation  and  rage. 

Mr.  Wilmot  smiled.     He  was  just  as  angry  as  she 


114:  TOTALLY    DEPRAVED. 

was,  but  he  was  a  trained  lawyer,  and  did  not  allow  his 
feelings  to  be  reflected  in  his  face. 

"  You  should  not  apply  a  general  remark  to  a  par 
ticular  case.  I  did  not  intend  to  speak  offensively,"  he 
said.  "  You  know  it  is  natural  for  a  man  to  phil 
osophize." 

"  Well,  if  you  aren't  going  to  kill  Indians  what  are 
you  starting  out  on  this  expedition  for  ?"  she  asked. 

"I  expect  to  engage  in  honorable  war,  not  in 
slaughtering  women  and  children.  If  you  admire  men 
who  engage  in  that  sort  of  thing,  I  advise  you  to  make 
the  acquaintance  of  that  heroic  gentleman,  Captain 
Perkins." 

Mr.  Wilmot  had  risen  to  his  feet,  as  he  finished 
speaking  he  bowed  and  walked  out  of  the  room.  He 
was,  as  he  afterward  expressed  it,  "  mad  all  over." 
He  had  expected  a  very  pleasant  interview  with  Miss 
"Walker.  He  thought  that  because  of  the  timidity  she 
had  manifested  in  danger,  that  when  she  knew  that  he 
was  going  forth  to  fight  the  Indians,  she  would  express 
fears  for  his  safety,  and  in  all  probability  would 
endeavor  to  persuade  him  not  to  go,  and  he  had  found 
her  the  very  opposite  of  what  he  expected.  He  was 
interested  in  her.  To  tell  the  truth,  he  thought  it  was 
much  more  like  what  a  woman  ought  to  do,  to  faint 
away  in  his  arms  perfectly  helpless,  than  to  sit  on  a 
horse  in  perfect  steadiness,  and  ride  ten  miles  at  a 
breakneck  speed,  like  Mrs.  Parkman,  when  a  band 
of  howling  savages  were  after  their  scalps. 

After  Mr.  Wilmot  left,  Miss  Walker  went  to  a 
window  and  sat  looking  out  on  the  prairie  for  a  long 


TOTALLY    DEPRAVED.  115 

time.  She  thought  she  had  been  very  ungrateful  to 
Mr.  Wilmot.  He  had  saved  her  life,  and  yet  the  first 
time  he  had  called  on  her  afterward  she  had  quarreled 
with  him.  She  said  to  herself,  "  I  am  a  coward.  Every 
time  I  am  in  danger  I  faint  away  ;  and,  like  all  cowards, 
when  I  am  out  of  danger  I  am  talking  about  killing  peo 
ple  as  if  it  amounted  to  nothing.  Now  Mrs.  Parkman 
never  talks  that  way,  and  when  she  is  in  danger  she  don't 
faint  away.  She  is  as  brave  and  cool  as  a  man.  I  am 
very,  very  sorry  that  I  talked  to  Mr.  Wilmot  that  way. 
He  must  think  I  am  a  dreadful  creature."  Then  the 
tears  began  to  trickle  down  her  cheeks,  and  she  resolved 
she  would  write  a  letter  to  him,  and  apologize.  But 
how  would  he  get  it  ?  He  was  going  off  into  the  Indian 
country,  where  there  were  no  stage-coaches  or  post- 
offices.  She  would  put  it  in  the  post-office  at  Council 
Bluffs,  and  write  on  the  envelope,  "  Please  forward." 
This  was  the  letter : 

"  DEAR  MR.  WILMOT  : 

"I  am  afraid  you  will  think  I  am  worse  than  a 
savage.  I  am  very  sorry  for  the  way  I  talked  to  you. 
I  don't  know  what  made  me  do  it.  I  know  I  am  very, 
very  grateful  to  you  for  saving  my  life,  and  that  you 
expressed  only  such  sentiments  as  a  brave  man  would. 
I  don't  know  how  to  write  to  you  about  it,  but  when 
you  come  back  I  hope  to  see  you,  and  then  I  will  tell 
you.  I  do  hope  that  you  will  not  get  hurt,  and  soon 
come  back,  so  that  I  can  apologize. 
"  Very  truly, 

"JENNIE  WALKEK" 


116  TOTALLY     DEPRAVED. 

Mr.  Wilmot  got  his  company  across  the  river  as  soon 
as  possible.  He  gave  orders  in  a  stern  and  severe  tone. 
There  was  a  clouded  look  on  his  face,  and  an  irritable 
manner,  which  was  entirely  foreign  to  his  usual  habits. 
The  officers  and  men  thought  how  the  elevation  to  of 
fice  had  affected  him.  No  one  would  have  believed — he 
would  have  denied  it  himself — that  all  this  change  had 
come  over  him  because  of  words  spoken  to  him  by  a 
young  lady.  Yet  such  was  the  case.  He  could  not 
drive  her  out  of  his  mind.  As  he  rode  up  over  the  hills 
on  the  west  side  of  the  river  he  thought  less  of  the  In 
dians  than  he  did  of  Jennie  Walker. 

Coming  upon  the  rains  of  burned  cabins  and  the 
bodies  of  the  dead  soon  drove  all  thoughts  of  her  out  of 
his  mind.  A  hasty  glance  was  all  he  gave  to  these,  and 
pressed  on  to  the  relief  of  Captain  Belfor.  But  the 
Indians  had  fled  before  he  arrived  there. 

Soon  after  this  Perkins  called  upon  Miss  Walker.  He 
brought  word  from  her  father,  who  was  a  trader  among 
the  Indians  far  to  the  north.  He  had  written  to  Jennie 
to  come  to  Council  Bluffs,  and  expected  to  meet  her 
there  in  June ;  but  he  had  got  into  a  new  speculation, 
and  would  not  come  down  the  river  until  the  next  year, 
when  he  would  bring  an  immense  quantity  of  furs.  He 
sent  a  large  check  on  a  bank  in  New  York  to  pay  her 
expenses  until  he  should  come.  Perkins  offered  to  get 
the  check  cashed  for  her.  She  was  about  to  employ 
him  to  do  the  business  when  she  thought  that  Mr.  Wil- 
mot  was  a  lawyer,  and  when  he  returned  she  could  go 
to  him  with  perfect  propriety  on  business,  and  then 
would  have  an  opportunity  to  speak  to  him.  So  she 


TOTALLY    DEPRAVED.  117 

declined  Mr.  Perkins's  offer,  saying  she  had  no  need  of 
money  just  at  present,  and  would  rather  have  the  check. 

"  I  am  surprised,"  said  Perkins,  "  to  see  you  looking 
so  fresh  and  rosy  after  the  terrible  sufferings  you  have 
endured  among  the  Indians." 

"Oh!  I  was  treated  in  a  splendid  way  by  them. 
They  were  just  as  kind  as  they  could  be,  and  gave  me 
the  best  they  had." 

"I  suppose  that  the  chief  had  promised  you  to 
some  of  his  young  men  for  a  wife  is  the  reason  they 
treated  you  so  well." 

"No,  I  don't  think  so,  for  they  seemed  to  think 
even  more  of  Mrs.  Parkman,  and  treated  her  just  as 
kindly  as  they  did  me.  Many  of  the  women  cried 
when  we  came  away,  and  the  chief  offered  us  presents 
of  horses.  I  think  they  are  very  nice,  kind  people  when 
they  are  at  peace." 

"  But  they  will  go  to  war,"  said  Perkins.  "  Every 
one  of  them  lives  in  hopes  of  that  all  the  time,  and 
when  they  are  making  the  greatest  pretensions  of 
friendship  is  the  very  time  they  are  plotting  murder. 
There  was  never  an  Indian  who  was  not  treacherous. 
What  cause  had  they  to  assault  the  stage-coach  ?" 

"  I  was  told,"  replied  Jennie,  "  that  some  white 
man  was  down  there  and  cheated  them  gambling.  I 
think  that  gambler  was  more  responsible  for  the 
murder  of  the  people  in  the  stage-coach  than  the  Indians 
were." 

"  That  is  one  of  their  lies,"  said  Perkins.  "  Nothing 
is  more  true  than  what  one  of  our  United  States 


118  TOTALLY     DEPRAVED. 

Senators  recently  said,  that  they  can  outlie  a  minister 
plenipotentiary." 

"  If  that  is  so,  why  do  you  blame  Indians  for  doing 
the  same  thing  that  the  minister  of  the  great  civilized 
states  are  proud  of  ?" 

"  Yes,  but  when  civilized  nations  make  a  treaty  of 
peace,  they  don't  go  to  plotting  murder  under  cover 
of  it." 

"  I  heard  Mr.  Parkman  say  that  General  Harney 
swore  before  a  committee  at  Washington  that  he  never 
knew  an  Indian  tribe  to  be  the  first  to  break  a  treaty," 
said  Jennie,  "  and  thought  the  wars  were  caused  by  bad 
white  men." 

"  The  officers  at  the  post  have  been  filling  your 
head  with  nonsense,"  said  Perkins.  "  They  are  a  hard 
lot.  The  only  titled  aristocracy  we  have  in  this  country. 
They  have  done  more  to  demoralize  and  degrade  the 
Indians  than  all  other  things  put  together.  About  half 
of  them  have  Indian  wives.  Look  at  Lieutenant 
Blake." 

Mrs.  Parkman  replied  to  this.  "  I  know,"  said  she, 
"  that  Captain  Belf or  and  many  other  of  the  officers 
denounced  Lieutenant  Blake.  They  said  that  he  would 
be  denied  social  recognition  by  other  officers  wherever  he 
went.  They  looked  upon  it  as  a  disgrace  to  the  army, 
and  were  greatly  mortified." 

"Well,  the  Indians  are  a  dirty,  degraded,  treacher 
ous,  fiendish  set  of  blood-thirsty  savages,  and  no  one 
who  knows  anything  about  them  will  say  anything 
else,"  said  Perkins. 

"And  the  gamblers  who  cheat  them,  the  agents 


TOTALLY    DEPRAVED.  119 

who  rob  them,  and  the  cowards  who  kill  their  women 
and  children  are  worse,"  said  Jennie. 

Both  of  them  were  getting  somewhat  warm  over 
the  subject,  and  Mrs.  Parkman  changed  the  conversa 
tion  to  a  discussion  of  the  weather.  After  Perkins 
had  gone,  Jennie  said  to  herself,  "  Why  couldn't  I  have 
talked  that  way  to  Mr.  "Wilmot  ?  I  suppose  it  is  be 
cause  I  am  totally  depraved.  Mr.  Parkman  says  that 
everybody  is  totally  depraved  until  they  are  converted, 
and  I  am  sure  I  am,  or  I  should  never  have  acted  so. 
I  do  hope  he  will  come  back  soon.  I'm  sure  I  want 
him  to  think  wrell  of  me." 

Miss  Walker  had  two  admirers,  and  she  had  quarreled 
with  both  of  them  during  their  first  call  upon  her. 

However,  it  was  only  a  day  or  two  before  Perkins 
called  again.  He  drove  up  in  a  buggy,  to  which  were 
attached  a  magnificent  pair  of  bays,  and  asked  her  to 
take  a  ride.  The  day  was  beautiful,  and  Jennie  went 
with  him.  Prairie  roads  are  as  smooth  as  a  floor,  and  a 
carriage  rolls  along  without  a  jar.  As  the  horses  sped 
away  the  bracing,  pure  air  acted  like  a  stimulant  and 
soon  put  Jennie  in  the  best  of  spirits.  Perkins  did 
his  best  to  be  entertaining  and  pleasant.  He  told  her 
of  his  intimacy  with  her  father,  of  their  hunts  and 
perils  together,  and  dilated  upon  what  a  fine  man  he 
was.  Then  he  talked  of  her  mother,  who  had  died 
when  Jennie  was  a  little  girl.  It  was  because  of  her 
mother's  death  that  her  father  had  come  West.  He 
could  not  remain  where  the  old  scenes  constantly  re 
minded  him  of  her,  and  how  for  the  last  two  years  he 
had  been  longing  to  see  his  daughter.  He  knew,  he 


120  TOTALLY    DEPRAVED. 

said,  that  it  was  something  far  out  of  the  common  run 
of  business  that  had  kept  him  for  another  year  in  the 
fur  regions  of  the  north.  But  when  he  came  he  would 
be  independently  rich.  Not  a  word  was  said  about 
Indians,  and  when  they  returned  after  a  two  hours' 
drive,  Perkins  was  satisfied  he  had  made  a  very  favor 
able  impression  upon  her.  From  that  time,  Perkins 
was  a  frequent  visitor  at  Mr.  Parkrnan's,  and  the  buggy 
rides  in  the  afternoon  were  almost  a  daily  occurrence. 
It  became  the  common  talk  of  the  town  that  Perkins 
and  Miss  Walker  were  engaged. 

One  day  Perkins  informed  Jennie  that  he  was 
going  away  for  a  short  time.  He  had  got  a  contract  to 
cut  hay  out  at  the  new  fort,  on  the  Little  Blue.  He 
would  be  gone  about  two  weeks.  He  tried  in  every 
way  to  get  some  expression  of  regret  from  her,  concern 
ing  his  proposed  absence,  but  did  not  succeed. 

The  next  day  after  Perkins  left,  Mr.  Parkman  was 
astonished  to  see  Captain  Jack  walk  in.  "  I've  come," 
said  he,  "  to  bid  you  good-bye.  I  don't  suppose  you 
will  ever  see  me  agin.  I've  resigned  my  place  as 
scout.  I  reckon  a  good  many  hard  things  will  be  said 
agin  me  when  I  am  gone,  but  I  wanted  you  and  Mrs. 
Parkman  to  think  well  of  me.  I  don't  care  about  the 
rest.  I  can't  stand  this  fighting  old  Red  Iron.  I've 
lived  in  his  tent  many  a  month,  and  he  allers  give  me 
the  best  he  had.  There's  no  better  man  on  earth  than 
old  Red  Iron.  I  knowed  his  wife  and  children.  When  I 
heard  that  they  had  all  been  murdered,  I  just  give  up. 
Think  of  it !  That  old  man  hasn't  a  child  nor  a  wife 
left,  and  he  thought  as  much  of  them  as  any  white  man 


TOTALLY    DEPRAVED.  121 

ever  did.  How  mncli  lie  used  to  play  with  Minnie- 
chuck.  She  was  about  twelve  year  old,  and  as  good  a 
girl  as  ever  lived.  I  won't  fight  old  Red  Iron.  I  am 
going  out  to  find  him  and  I  will  stand  by  him  to  the 
end.  The  time  is  coming,  of  course,  when  he  will 
have  to  give  in,  'cause  a  few  Injuns  can't  fight  this 
Government  more'n  a  year  or  two,  and  then  he  will  need 
somebody  who  knows  the  ways  of  those  white  devils  to 
help  him." 

"  Did  you  see  Mr.  Wilmot  ?"  asked  Jennie. 

"  Yes,  I  seed  him,  and  he  looked  sort  of  down-cast 
and  heart-broken,  not  like  himself  at  all.  He  was 
guarding  a  train  through.  He  didn't  say  so,  but  I  know 
he  hain't  got  no  heart  in  this  war  at  all." 

"  You  did  not  come  all  the  way  here  to  say  good 
bye  to  us,"  said  Mrs.  Parkman.  "  Now  tell  us,  Jack, 
what  else  brought  you  here  ?" 

"  Well,  I  kind  a  thought  it  would  be  pleasant  to 
have  an  interview  with  Perkins,"  said  Jack,  "  so  I 
could  tell  Red  Iron  that  I  had  seen  him,  you  know." 

"  Oh !  Jack  !"  said  Mrs.  Parkman,  who  fully  under 
stood  the  meaning  of  Jack's  significant  sentence,  but 
Jennie  did  not  understand  it  at  all. 

"  I  am  sorry,"  she  said,  "  but  Mr.  Perkins  went 
away  yesterday.  I  know  he  would  have  been  delighted 
to  have  met  you,  for  I  have  heard  him  speak  of  you, 
and  you  both  have  been  great  Indian  fighters." 

"  When  did  he  fight  Injuns  ?"  asked  Jack. 

"  Oh !  up  north,  and  he  led  the  men  who  captured 
and  destroyed  a  hostile  Indian  camp  not  long  ago.  He 
told  me  all  about  what  a  terrible  fight  they  had.  He 
6 


122  TWENTY-FIVE    THOUSAND    DOLLARS. 

was  very  sorry  about  Ked  Iron's  band,  but  he  had 
nothing  to  do  with  that,  although  some  of  the  men  in 
his  company  did." 

"  He  told  ye  that,  did  he  ?"  said  Jack. 

"Yes." 

"  And  you  believed  it  ?" 

"  Certainly." 

"  He  is  the  very  man  who  murdered,  in  cold  blood, 
Red  Iron's  helpless  women  and  children." 

"  Oh,  the  monster !"  said  Jennie.  "  I  will  never 
speak  to  him  again." 

There  were  tears  in  Jack's  eyes  when  he  shook 
hands  with  them. 

"I  ain't  going  to  fight  agin  my  own  color  and 
flesh  and  blood,"  he  said,  "  but  I'm  going  to  find  Ked 
Iron,  and  help  him  all  I  can,"  and  he  went  away. 


CHAPTER  XIY. 

TWENTY-FIVE  THOUSAND   DOLLARS. 


ED  IRON'S  successful  raid  on  the  settlements 
brought  about  another  great  outcry  against 
the  military.  Colonel  Greene  was  denoun 
ced  in  the  papers  as  utterly  incompetent  to 
manage  the  campaign,  and  a  great  pressure  was  brought 
to  bear  upon  the  President  to  remove  him.  Colonel 
Greene  made  no  defense  (regular  army  officers  never 


TWENTY-FIVE     THOUSAND    DOLLARS.  123 

do),  against  such  assaults.  He  forwarded  liis  regular 
official  reports,  which  gave  a  truthful  and  minute  ac 
count  of  what  was  transpiring.  He  was  pushing  for 
ward  the  construction  of  the  fort  with  all  the  force  he 
had  at  hand,  and  making  ready  for  a  vigorous  winter 
campaign,  when  Perkins  arrived  on  the  spot  with  his 
contract  to  cut  several  thousand  tons  of  hay.  The  con 
tract  specified  that  the  Government  would  reimburse 
him  for  all  losses  from  the  Indians.  Perkins  carried 
with  him  three  or  four  old  mowing-machines,  all  but 
one  being  totally  worn-out  and  unfit  for  use.  He  had, 
perhaps,  a  dozen  broken-down  old  horses,  so  poor,  that 
it  was  a  hard  matter  to  get  them  through  to  the  fort 
alive.  With  this  outfit,  he  went  about  five  miles  from 
the  fort  and  camped,  where  the  tall  grass  was  of 
the  kind  from  which  prairie  hay  is  made.  A  few 
swaths  were  cut  before  sundown,  and  the  men  retired 
to  their  tents  for  the  night.  About  midnight,  Perkins 
arose,  went  out,  fired  several  shots  from  his  revolver, 
and  cried  at  the  top  of  his  voice,  "  Injuns,  Injuns." 
The  men  all  ran  away. 

Perkins  put  in  a  claim  for  twenty-five  thousand  dol 
lars  for  losses  incurred  by  a  raid  from  the  Indians.  It 
was  rejected  by  the  quartermaster,  for  it  was  positively 
proved — first,  that  he  did  not  have  over  five  hundred 
dollars'  worth  of  property  on  the  ground,  and  second, 
that  no  Indians  had  disturbed  him,  for  not  a  sign  of  a 
trail  could  be  found,  except  what  the  men  had  made 
themselves  in  going  out  and  coming  back.  However, 
Perkins  got  a  pile  of  affidavits,  proving  the  raid  and  his 
heavy  losses,  and  had  a  bill  introduced  in  Congress  for 


124  JACK  IN  KED  IKON'S  CAMP. 

his  relief.  It  was  not  many  months  before  he  had  his 
money  in  his  pocket,  except  what  he  had  to  divide  with 
his  associates  in  Washington  and  the  affidavit-makers. 
He  kept  his  promise  to  Miss  Walker,  and  was  back  to 
Council  Bluffs  within  two  weeks. 


CHAPTER  XY. 

JACK   IN   KED   IRON'S   CAMP. 

ACK  never  had  a  sadder  heart  but  once  in 
his  life  than  when  he  started  on  his  chase 
after  Red  Iron.  There  was  a  firm  friend 
ship  between  these  two  men,  cemented  by 
many  acts  of  kindness  on  both  sides.  Once,  when  Red 
Iron  and  a  few  men  who  were  with  him  were  assaulted 
by  an  overwhelming  number  of  a  tribe  hostile  to  them, 
Jack  had,  by  his  unerring  rifle,  saved  the  party,  and 
the  old  chief  had  tried  to  repay  him  by  every  means  in 
his  power.  Jack  started  out  prepared  for  a  long 
journey.  He  had  two  pack-horses  and  one  which  he 
rode.  The  pack-horses  were  laden ed  with  blankets, 
provisions  and  ammunition.  He  knew  that  Red  Iron 
would  try  to  unite  his  force  with  Badger's  band,  and 
he  thought  they  must  be  somewhere  on  the  Ariekoree 
river.  There  the  winters  were  mild  and  game  was 
plenty.  Twenty-one  days  after  he  left  he  came  across 
signs  of  Indians,  and  the  next  day  he  rode  into  Red 


125 

Iron's  camp.  The  meeting  of  these  two  men  can 
scarcely  be  described.  When  he  rode  up  to  Red  Iron's 
tent,  the  old  chief  came  out  and  took  his  hand  in 
silence.  Then  he  motioned  to  Jack  to  come  in.  They 
sat  down  on  a  robe  and  smoked  in  silence  for  a  long 
time.  There  were  no  women  or  children  about  the 
tent.  At  last  Jack  said : 

"  I  have  come  to  live  with  you  always.  I  think  I 
can  help  you  if  you  will  let  me.  You  know  that 
there  is  no  man  on  these  plains  who  is  better  with  the 
rifle  or  revolver  than  I  am.  I  want  to  be  a  mem 
ber  of  your  tribe.  There  may  be  a  long  war,  but  after 
a  while  it  will  come  to  a  close  somehow,  and  then  you 
will  need  some  one  who  will  be  able  to  help  you  with 
the  whites.  You  and  I  have  been  friends  in  days 
which  have  passed,  let  us  always  be  friends." 

"  You  shall  be  my  son,"  said  Red  Iron. 

To  become  a  "member  .of  a  tribe  the  person  must 
first  be  adopted  into  some  family.  All  tribal  govern 
ment  is  founded  on  kinship. 

Nothing  more  was  said  that  day,  but  the  next  they 
talked  for  hours  together.  Red  Iron  told  the  story  of 
the  massacre,  and  then  said  : 

"  I  wanted  to  live  in  peace  with  the  whites.  I  know 
I  cannot  fight  them.  They  out-number  me  a  hundred  to 
one.  They  have  plenty  of  arms  and  ammunition.  They 
have  gold  and  silver.  Of  these  I  have  none.  They 
have  driven  us  back  from  the  great  water  to  these  plains, 
and  thousands  of  them  are  going  on  by  us  to  the  great 
waters  beyond.  After  a  while  they  will  take  all  this 
country,  and  there  will  be  no  place  for  us  to  go.  I 


126 

know  we  will  soon  have  to  change  our  mode  of  life. 
We  will  have  to  plow  instead  of  hunt.  I  know  that, 
but  I  can't  make  my  people  understand  it.  I  would  go 
in  and  make  peace  to-morrow  if  I  could  have  a  piece  of 
land  which  was  my  own,  and  on  which  the  white  men 
would  let  us  live  in  peace.  I  can  carry  on  this  war  for 
a  while ;  but  if  we  kill  the  soldiers  who  are  sent  to  fight, 
they  will  only  sond  more.  If  we  are  killed,  there  are 
no  more  to  take  our  places.  I  went  once  to  Washing 
ton.  I  passed  through  a  great  many  cities.  I  saw  the 
white  people.  No  man  can  number  them.  The  men 
of  my  tribe  cannot  believe  what  I  tell  them.  They 
seem  to  know  nothing  at  all,  and  sometimes  I  think 
that  I  do  not." 

"  Things  are  very  bad,"  said  Jack.  "  If  we  retreat 
much  further,  we  will  come  into  the  country  belonging 
to  the  Indians  who  have  always  been  at  war  with  you. 
As  soon  as  the  fort  on  the  Little  Blue  is  completed, 
and  they  have  plenty  of  rations  there,  the  soldiers  will 
march  against  us.  Then  we  must  fight  or  surrender. 
The  cavalry  will  scour  all  over  this  country.  There 
will  not  be  a  stream  on  which  you  can  camp  that  they 
will  not  march  up  and  down.  If  the  cavalry  are  not 
strong  enough,  they  will  halt  and  wait  for  the  infantry 
and  the  field  battery  to  come  up.  We  can't  fight  in 
fantry  and  artillery." 

"  I  know  all  that,"  said  Ked  Iron.  "  I  knew  it  be 
fore  I  went  into  this  war.  I  was  forced  into  it.  There 
seems  to  be  no  spot  on  all  the  earth  where  I  can  go  and 
live  in  peace.  There  is  no  place  anywhere  in  all  this 
big  earth  for  me  and  my  people.  We  are  all  to  be 


127 

killed.  There  is  but  one  thing  we  can  do.  "We  can  die 
fighting,  and  not  die  like  cowards.  Then  in  the  future, 
when  they  see  our  graves,  they  will  at  least  say,  '  these 
were  brave  men.'  " 

"  Do  you  think  that  Badger  and  the  others  would 
make  peace  ?"  asked  Jack. 

"I  don't  know,"  said  Eed  Iron;  "they  talk  of 
nothing  but  war.  We  have  about  fifty  men  out,  under 
a  young  chief,  and  he  has  been  very  successful  in 
assaulting  trains,  and  has  captured  a  great  many  horses. 
He  is  young,  and  made  very  proud  by  his  success.  He 
has  more  influence  than  Badger.  His  name  is  Little 
Wolf.  His  head  is  turned.  He  thinks  he  can  whip 
the  whole  white  race.  If  he  lives  to  be  as  old  as  I  am, 
he  will  then  see  how  foolish  such  thoughts  are.  I  don't 
believe  we  could  do  anything  with  him.  He  will  be 
for  war  until  he  gets  badly  defeated  in  some  fight,  and 
then  he  will  be  for  peace.  Two  or  three  times  he  has 
come  back  with  a  herd  of  horses  and  a  large  amount  of 
plunder.  It  is  about  time  he  was  back  again.  I  think 
as  soon  as  he  comes  we  had  better  call  a  general  council, 
and  talk  over  what  we  will  do." 

During  the  next  four  or  five  days  Jack  and  Red 
Iron  had  several  more  long  conversations,  and  it  was 
their  conclusion  that  the  best  thing  to  be  done  was  to 
make  a  treaty  of  peace,  if  such  terms  could  be  got  as 
the  preservation  of  their  lives,  a  piece  of  land  which 
was  to  be  theirs  forever,  and  an  agreement  to  learn  the 
ways  of  the  whites.  This  was  a  conclusion  which  was 
a  secret  between  the  two.  Red  Iron  knew  that  it 


128 

would  meet  with  small  favor,  if  openly  advocated,  in 
the  present  state  of  feeling  in  the  tribe. 

The  days  wore  away  one  after  another,  and  not  one 
of  Little  Wolfs  band  returned.  Nearly  three  weeks 
afterward,  a  haggard  and  foot-sore  Indian  came  into 
camp.  He  said  they  had  all  been  killed,  and  that  he 
was  the  only  one  who  had  escaped.  Then  the  relations 
of  the  dead  sat  down  in  their  tents  and  commenced  to 
wail. 

An  Indian's  relations  are  much  more  to  him  than  a 
white  man's,  for  he  has  nothing  else  on  which  to  set 
his  affections.  The  white  man  has  the  world  of  art  and 
literature,  his  business,  a  thousand  things,  to  draw  off 
his  thoughts  and  assuage  Ids  grief.  The  Indian  has 
nothing ;  so,  male  and  female,  they  sit  down  and  wail 
until  they  are  perfectly  exhausted.  It  is  enough  to 
drive  a  white  man  crazy  to  listen  to  them. 

But  the  escaped  Indian  was  mistaken,  they  were  not 
all  killed,  for  one  by  one  they  came  into  camp  until 
more  than  half  of  them  had  returned,  and  among  the 
number  was  Little  Wolf  himself.  The  story  they  told 
was  as  follows : 

They  were  watching  a  large  train,  with  which  there 
were  no  soldiers.  At  a  camping-place  they  undertook 
to  stampede  the  stock,  and  partially  succeeded  in  doing 
so.  A  great  number  of  men,  who  were  not  soldiers, 
mounted  other  horses  and  made  chase.  They  over 
took  them  in  the  hills  and  timber  of  the  Big  Blue,  and 
a  terrible  battle  ensued,  with  victory  on  neither  side. 
Then  a  large  body  of  soldiers  came  upon  them 'in  the 
rear  and  surrounded  them.  They  fought  until  night, 


129 

and  stole  out  as  best  they  could  and  fled,  every  man  for 
himself. 

This  disaster  to  Little  Wolf  greatly  reduced  his  in 
fluence  in  the  tribe.  The  relations  of  the  dead  warriors 
were  very  bitter  against  him. 

Red  Iron  thought  it  a  good  time  to  hold  a  general 
council,  and  all  the  chiefs  and  head  men,  to  the  number 
of  about  twenty-five,  assembled.  After  the  usual  for 
malities  were  gone  through  with,  Bed  Iron  spoke.  He 
talked  very  fast,  in  a  high  key,  and  gesticulated  with 
great  energy. 

His  speech  was  full  of  the  most  bitter  invective 
against  the  whites.  He  called  them  dogs,  wolves, 
thieves,  murderers,  cowards  and  liars ;  related  instances 
to  illustrate  each  charge  he  made  against  them,  and 
gave  a  picture  of  his  camp  when  he  came  back 
from  the  hunt.  He  told  how  they  were  now  building 
a  fort  in  the  heart  of  their  country,  in  which  they  would 
harbor  thousands  of  soldiers,  to  raid  upon  them  and  kill 
them.  The  country  back  to  the  great  water  was  full  of 
soldiers.  They  were  heartless,  and  had  no  pity  in 
them.  This  was  the  wily  old  chiefs  opening.  It  was 
made  simply  for  effect,  and  it  accomplished  the  purpose 
intended. 

He  knew  there  was  a  large  party  who  would  oppose 
anything  he  would  suggest,  and  he  wanted  to  get  them 
to  talking  peace  first,  and  then  he  would  come  over  to 
their  views.  The  stratagem  succeeded  better  than  he 
had  hoped.  Old  Two  Strike  arose  and  addressed  the 
chiefs.  He  thought  they  had  whipped  the  whites  al 
ready.  He  descanted  upon  the  great  victory  of  Badger 
6* 


130  JACK    IN 

over  the  soldiers  who  had  followed  them.  They  had 
killed  nearly  every  one  of  them,  and  they  had  given  up 
the  chase.  He  thought  they  had  gained  a  grand  vic 
tory. 

This  stirred  up  the  Head  Soldier  of  Red  Iron's  band. 
He  told  how  many  scalps  he  had  taken  in  one  day,  and 
had  driven  the  whites  clear  out  of  the  conntry.  Every 
one  who  was  not  killed  had  fled  across  the  river.  He 
was  certain  the  whites  were  eager  for  peace,  and  the 
only  question  was  for  them  to  decide  whether  they 
would  grant  them  peace  or  not. 

Little  Wolf  hadn't  anything  to  say.  He  had  done 
more  fighting  than  any  of  them,  but  he  was  in  disgrace 
on  account  of  the  loss  of  half  of  his  warriors. 

The  council  lasted  for  several  hours  and  adjourned 
without  any  decision,  to  come  together  the  next  day. 
Meantime  Red  Iron  had  his  emissaries  to  work,  arguing 
that  the  whites  were  so  anxious  for  peace  that  they 
might  expect  great  concessions,  perhaps  big  annuities, 
for  many  years  to  come.  In  this  way  a  sentiment  was 
worked  up  in  favor  of  making  peace,  but  they  held 
councils  for  three  days  before  it  was  finally  decided 
that  a  delegation  should  be  sent  to  ask  for  peace.  Then 
there  was  a  great  contest  about  who  should  go  on  the 
delegation,  and  it  took  a  good  deal  of  sharp  managing 
on  the  part  of  Red  Iron  to  get  it  arranged  so  as  to 
promise  any  hope  of  success.  It  was  finally  agreed 
that  it  should  be  composed  of  Red  Iron,  Badger,  Two 
Strike,  Little  Wolf,  and  Red  Iron's  Head  Soldier,  White 
Hawk. 


TREATING    WITH    THE     MILITARY.  131 

Jack  agreed  to  go  in  first  and  arrange  for  a  meeting 
with  Colonel  Greene,  and  then  come  back  and  take  the 
delegation. 


CHAPTER  XYI. 

TREATING  WITH  THE  MILITARY. 

HE  nights  were  cold  and  frosty  when  the 
delegation  started  for  the  fort  on  the  Little 
Blue.  The  greatest  precautions  were  used 
to  prevent  surprise,  as  they  might  at  any 
time  meet  with  the  cavalry,  and  be  killed  before  any  ex 
planation  could  be  made. 

Jack  left  the  delegation  twenty  miles  from  the  fort, 
securely  concealed  in  a  thick  growth  of  underbrush  on 
a  little  stream,  and  went  on  alone.  Arriving  at  the 
fort,  he  went  directly  to  Colonel  Greene's  head-quarters 
and  made  a  full  report.  It  was  slightly  colored  in 
favor  of  the  Indians,  but  he  could  not  well  help  that, 
for  not  only  did  he  sympathize  with  them,  but  he  was 
acting  for  them,  and  he  was  determined  to  get  the  best 
terms  he  could.  He  represented  that  there  were  a  very 
large  number  of  Indians  well  armed  and  supplied,  and 
if  the  war  went  on  could  make  a  very  vigorous  resist 
ance,  which  would  cost  the  government  many  millions 
of  dollars  and  thousands  of  lives,  but  now  a  peace  could 
be  made  on  very  favorable  terms. 

Colonel  Greene  and  the  senior  officers  at  the  fort 


132  TREATING    WITH    THE     MILITARY. 

were  delighted  with  the  result  of  their  plans.  A 
winter  campaign  in  the  fierce  cold  and  storms  of  the 
plains  was  a  prospect  which  was  anything  but  pleasant. 
It  had  been  Colonel  Greene's  idea  that  the  establish 
ment  of  this  fort,  heavily  garrisoned,  in  the  heart  of 
the  Indian  country,  would  awe  them  into  subjection, 
and  now  he  saw  it  realized.  He  knew  of  the  efforts 
which  had  been  made  to  remove  him  from  his  com 
mand,  and  he  smiled  as  he  thought  how  utterly  ridicu 
lous  those  speculators  and  politicians  would  appear  when 
they  heard  that  all  the  hostile  Indians  had  surrendered 
to  him. 

The  fact  was  that  Jack's  expedition  to  Red  Iron's 
camp  was  planned  by  Colonel  Greene  himself,  and  Jack 
resigned  his  position  as  scout  and  undertook  the 
difficult  task  almost  as  much  out  of  regard  for  Colonel 
Greene  as  for  his  friendship  for  Red  Iron,  knowing 
very  well  that  if  these  two  men  could  be  brought 
together,  a  peace,  honorable  to  both,  would  be  the 
result.  Yet  he  doubted  very  much  whether  the  Indians 
would  make  peace  so  soon  after  the  great  outrages  had 
been  committed  upon  them,  and  it  was  understood  by 
Colonel  Greene,  that  if  they  would  not,  Jack  would 
remain  with  his  friend  Red  Iron. 

Jack  returned  to  the  delegation  with  a  safe  conduct 
and  brought  them  into  the  fort.  Colonel  Greene 
assigned  them  as  pleasant  quarters  as  was  in  the  fort, 
and  treated  them  as  well  as  if  they  had  been  a  delega 
tion  from  a  civilized  power  with  which  he  had  been  at 
war.  A  day  was  given  for  them  to  rest,  and  then 
they  assembled  in  council.  There  were  present  Colonel 


TREATING    WITH    THE     MILITAEY.  133 

Greene  and  his  staff,  Major  Hodson,  Captain  Belfor, 
Mr.  Wilmot  arid  several  other  officers.  Jack  acted  as 
interpreter.  The  chiefs  were  dressed  in  their  most 
gorgeous  Indian  costumes,  and  the  officers  in  full-dress 
uniform.  An  adjutant  made  a  verb&tim  report  of 
every  word  that  was  said,  a  thing  that  any  expert  long 
hand  writer  can  do,  where  everything  has  to  be 
interpreted  from  one  language  into  another. 

Red  Iron  made  a  set  speech.  He  told  of  his  con 
tinued  friendship  for  the  whites ;  of  his  agreement  with 
Major  Hodson ;  the  massacre  of  his  women  and  children. 
"  That  man,"  said  he,  pointing  to  Major  Hodson, 
"  knows  that  I  have  spoken  the  truth."  (Indians  never 
speak  of  a  person  by  name  if  they  can  possibly  avoid  it. 
They  consider  it  very  impolite  to  do  so.  The  United 
States  Senate  has  adopted  this  custom,  and  never  address 
a  senator  by  name.)  He  then  claimed  a  large  sum  for 
damages  for  the  outrages  committed  upon  his  people, 
and  for  the  presents  the  Great  Father  had  promised 
him,  but  which  he  had  never  received.  When  he  sat 
down  he  asked  Captain  Belfor  and  Major  Hodson  to 
state  if  he  had  not  told  the  truth.  They  both  said  he 
had  given  a  correct  account  of  the  whole  matter. 

Colonel  Greene  then  undertook  to  explain  to  him 
that  he  was  a  military  officer.  He  had  only  authority 
in  time  of  war.  He  could  not  negotiate  about  annuities 
or  damages,  that  must  be  done  by  commissioners  sent 
by  the  Great  Father.  He  could  only  talk  about  war, 
and  conditions  of  surrender. 

Jack  interpreted  the  speech  with  care,  and  then 
tried  to  explain  to  Red  Iron  our  form  of  government. 


134  TREATING     WITH     THE    MILITARY. 

He  told  him  about  the  great  council  (Congress),  the 
different  departments  at  Washington,  the  Indian 
Bureau  and  the  Secretary  of  Interior,  and  the  Indians 
were  more  in  the  dark  when  he  finished  than  before  he 
began  to  talk.  Red  Iron  replied : 

"I  can't  understand  this.  I  come  here  to  make 
peace,  if  we  can  agree  upon  the  terms.  If  you  have 
no  authority  to  make  peace,  I  had  better  go  back  and 
wait  until  some  one  comes  who  has." 

"  I  have  authority,'7  said  Colonel  Greene,  "  to  make 
the  conditions  of  surrender  ;  and  whatever  conditions  I 
make,  the  authorities  at  Washington  are  bound  in 
honor  to  maintain.  I  have  command  of  all  the  soldiers 
in  this  part  of  the  country,  and  all  the  officers.  They 
must  obey  every  order  I  give.  Whatever  I  agree  to 
do  will  be  done.  Now,  if  you  want  to  make  peace  and 
come  in  I  will  talk  about  that.  I  have  no  doubt  that 
if  you  surrender  Congress  will  give  you  a  reservation 
and  annuities.  You  can  have  schools,  and  learn  to  be 
like  the  white  people,  and  become  rich  and  powerful." 

Red  Iron  took  that  as  a  positive  promise  that  he 
should  have  a  reservation  and  annuities,  as  every  Indian 
would,  and  always  has.  They  know  nothing  about 
hypothetical  propositions.  There  seems  to  be  no  "  ifs  " 
in  an  Indian's  thoughts.  Then  the  other  chiefs  talked. 
One  of  them  demanded  a  hundred  boxes  of  gold 
($100,000)  as  damages,  another  that  the  murderers 
of  Red  Iron's  women  and  children  should  be  turned 
over  to  them  for  punishment,  another  that  the  whites 
should  vacate  all  the  country  west  of  the  Missouri 
river,  and  the  tone  of  the  whole  council  was  to  the 


TREATING     WITH    THE    MILITARY.  135 

effect  that  they  were  the  aggrieved  parties,  and  had 
come  to  demand  satisfaction.  While  they  were 
respectful  in  their  language,  their  bearing  and  tone  was 
haughty  and  imperious. 

Red  Iron  saw  that  it  was  time  for  an  adjournment, 
and  asked  permission  to  retire  and  talk  over  the  matter, 
and  come  back  the  next  day. 

During  the  interval  he  sought  a  private  interview 
with  Colonel  Greene. 

When  he  and  Jack  were  alone  together  he  spoke 
without  any  reserve  whatever. 

He  said,  "I  know  that  I  cannot  fight  the  white 
people  long,  there  are  too  many  of  them.  I  want  to 
surrender  and  make  peace  if  I  can  do  so,  and  thereby 
save  my  people.  I  know  we  must  learn  to  farm. 
What  I  want  is  some  land  I  can  call  my  own,  which 
shall  be  mine  forever,  and  annuities  to  live  on  for  a  few 
years  until  we  can  learn  to  farm.  I  want  a  pledge 
that  none  of  the  Indians  who  have  been  in  this  war 
shall  be  harmed  if  they  surrender.  If  I  can  have  these 
things  I  will  submit.  But  if  my  men  are  to  be  killed 
for  going  to  war,  and  I  can  have  no  place  I  can  call  my 
own,  I  will  go  back  and  fight  until  I  die.  I  had  better 
do  that  than  die  like  a  coward,  or  all  of  us  become 
beggars  among  the  whites." 

Colonel  Greene  thought  over  the  matter  for  some 
moments.  He  was  in  a  very  perplexing  situation,  as 
many  other  officers  had  been  before  him  under  the 
same  circumstances.  He  knew  he  had  no  authority  to 
make  a  promise  of  annuities  or  a  reservation.  That 
was  not  in  the  province  of  the  War  Department.  If 


136  TREATING    WITH     THE    MILITARY. 

the  authority  was  vested  anywhere  it  was  in  the 
Interior  Department.  He  certainly  had  authority,  if 
this  was  war  in  which  he  was  engaged,  to  make  con 
ditions  of  surrender.  He  could  pledge  them  that  they 
should  be  protected  in  their  lives  and  he  could  hold 
them  as  prisoners  of  war  until  peace  was  declared. 
His  pledge  the  Government  was  bound  to  keep.  He 
finally  said  to  Red  Iron  : 

"  If  you  will  come  in  and  surrender,  I  will  promise 
that  none  of  you  shall  be  harmed.  I  have  no  doubt 
the  Government  will  give  you  a  reservation  and  annui 
ties.  This  country  is  yours,  and  the  Government  can't 
take  it  away  from  you,  without  your  consent,  if  you 
are  at  peace  ;  but  if  you  are  at  war  it  can  take  it  by 
conquest.  Therefore  it  is  better  for  you  to  made  peace 
as  soon  as  you  can.  I  will  issue  rations  to  all  of  your 
people  who  will  come  in,  until  the  Great  Father  sends 
a  commission  to  fix  the  details  of  the  settlement. 
They  will  say  how  much  annuities  you  shall  have  and 
where  your  reservation  shall  be.  You  had  better  come 
in  and  surrender.  It  is  the  best  thing  you  can  do." 

The  following  was  said  to  Jack  in  the  Indian 
language,  and  of  course  Colonel  Greene  could  not 
understand  it. 

"  Is  this  man  my  friend  ?" 

"  Yes,  I  think  he  is,"  said  Jack. 

"  Tell  him  that  it  is  very  hard  for  me  to  surrender, 
without  knowing  what  is  to  become  of  me  afterward, 
but  I  am  helpless  and  cannot  do  otherwise.  I  want 
to  save  the  few  who  remain  of  my  people.  I  put 
all  our  lives  into  his  hands,  Badger's  band  and  all  the 


TREATING     WITH     THE    MILITARY.  137 

others  who  are  with  me  on  the  Arickoree.  He  has 
pledged  me  that  their  lives  shall  be  saved.  I  have 
nothing  but  his  word.  To  him  I  give  the  lives  of 
the  men,  the  women  and  the  little  children.  lie  will 
see  that  they  are  not  killed  by  the  bad  white  men. 
Ask  him  if  he  will  do  this  ?" 

This  was  interpreted  to  Colonel  Greene.  He  re 
plied  : 

"  Tell  him,  I  pledge  him  my  word,  upon  the  honor 
of  a  man  and  a  soldier,  that  not  even  a  hair  of  their 
heads  shall  be  harmed." 

This  ended  the  private  council,  and  the  next  day>  at 
the  formal  one,  it  was  agreed  that  the  Indians  would 
come  in,  surrender  their  arms  and  their  horses,  and  re 
ceive  rations  until  they  should  be  provided  for  by  a 
commission  from  Washington. 

In  accordance  with  this  agreement  the  Indians  came 
to  the  fort  and  surrendered  their  arms  and  their  ponies. 
An  Indian  without  arms  or  a  pony  is  perfectly  help 
less.  He  cannot  hunt  or  go  to  war,  and  is  absolutely  at 
the  mercy  of  the  Government. 

It  was  with  many  misgivings  that  Red  Iron  did  it. 
He  had  risked  all  on  the  word  of  one  white  man, 
Colonel  Greene.  He  would  not  have  done  it  if  there 
had  been  any  ocher  course  open  to  him.  War  would 
only  result  in  extermination,  and  this  was  a  chance,  if 
only  a  chance,  for  life. 


138  CONGRESSMEN    ON    A    SPREE. 

CHAPTEK  XVII. 

CONGRESSMEN"  ON  A  SPREE. 


was  mid-winter  when  Mr.  Wilmot  returned 
to  Council  Bluffs  and  took  his  seat  in  his 
office.  He  never  received  Jennie  Walker's 
letter,  for  Perkins  had  been  intrusted  with 
the  mail  that  was  forwarded  to  the  fort  on  the  Little 
Blue,  when  he  went  out  to  cut  hay.  He  noticed  it 
among  the  dozen  others  which  were  committed  to  his 
charge,  and  opened  it.  Then  he  tore  it  in  a  thousand 
fragments,  and  scattered  them  to  the  winds.  Jennie 
had  kept  her  check  as  long  as  she  could,  so  as  to  have 
an  excuse  to  call  upon  Mr.  Wilmot  when  he  returned, 
but  his  long  absence  made  it  necessary  for  her  to  have 
it  cashed  before  his  return.  Mr.  Wilmot  did  not  call 
upon  her.  He  heard  the  current  stories  of  her  engage 
ment  to  Perkins,  and  in  every  way  avoided  meeting 
her.  Although  residing  in  the  same  little  town  together 
they  never  met.  She  saw  him  once  at  church  but  he 
did  not  seem  to  see  her.  She  went  to  several  parties, 
against  the  wishes  of  Mr.  Parkman,  in  hope  that  she 
might  meet  him,  but  Mr.  Wilmot  was  not  there.  Mr. 
Wilmot  stayed  in  his  office.  He  was  never  seen  in  the 
saloons  or  hotels,  and  seemed  to  have  no  acquaintances, 
except  in  the  way  of  business.  Perkins  called  upon  her 
frequently  ;  she  felt  bound  to  treat  him  with  politeness 
on  account  of  his  relations  with  her  father.  She 


CONGRESSMEN    ON     A    SPREE.  139 

declined  his  invitations  to  ride,  and  to  parties  and 
balls.  The  parties  and  balls  were  interdicted  by  Mr. 
Parkman,  the  Methodists  holding  them  to  be  exceed 
ingly  sinful.  She  gave  her  time  to  religious  work, 
attending  all  the  meetings  held  by  Mr.  Parkman,  and 
as  she  had  a  beautiful  soprano  voice,  aided  much  in  the 
singing. 

Life  in  a  frontier  town  is  exceedingly  monotonous. 
There  are  no  theaters,  no  lectures,  no  libraries,  no 
newspapers,  except  the  weekly  local  paper,  which  can 
be  read  through  in  fifteen  minutes. 

Only  once  was  there  any  stir  in  the  town  during  the 
long  winter.  It  was  when  a  committee  of  Senators 
and  Congressmen  arrived,  during  the  holiday  recess,  to 
investigate  the  recent  troubles.  Their  arrival  was  an 
nounced  two  or  three  days  in  advance,  and  the  Cause- 
land  House  was  put  in  the  best  order  possible.  They 
sent  an  order  for  dinner  for  fifteen,  and  the  proprietor, 
who  was  a  poor  man,  went  to  a  great  expense  to  pre 
pare  for  their  reception  and  entertainment.  When  that 
august  body  came,  they  went  directly  across  the  river, 
and  did  not  stop  at  the  Causeland  House  at  all,  nor  in 
any  way  offer  to  reimburse  him  for  his  loss.  An  escort 
was  waiting  for  them,  and  they  went  directly  to  the 
fort  on  the  Little  Blue. 

They  arrived  there  late  at  night,  and  the  next  morn 
ing  walked  around  and  looked  at  the  defenses.  About  ten 
o'clock  they  went  into  the  council  room.  Only  two 
chiefs  were  there,  Two  Strike  and  Little  Wolf.  The 
other  chiefs  had  not  been  notified  in  time  to  get  there. 

The  following  conversation  took  place  : 


CONGRESSMEN    ON    A    SPREE. 

Senator. — You  have  recently  been  on  the  war-path, 
haven't  you  ? 

Two  Strike. — There  was  trouble  between  the  Indians 
and  the  whites  last  fall,  but  it  has  all  been  settled,  and 
we  have  made  peace. 

Senator. — Do  the  military  officers  treat  you  well  ? 

Two  Strike. — Yes.  We  have  no  complaints  to 
make. 

Senator. — Have  you  anything  you  desire  to  say  to 
us? 

Two  Strike. — We  have  a  great  deal  we  want  to  say, 
but  the  other  chiefs  are  not  here,  and  we  wish  to  wait 
until  they  come. 

Senator. — We  are  in  a  great  hurry.  We  leave  to  re 
turn  to  Washington  at  one  o'clock.  If  you  have  any 
thing  to  say  you  must  say  it  now. 

Two  Strike. — I  cannot  speak  for  the  other  bands. 
Their  chiefs  must  speak  for  them.  It  seems  to  me  that 
it  will  take  a  long  time  to  settle  all  these  matters.  It 
cannot  be  done  in  an  hour. 

Senator  (to  interpreter). — Ask  the  other  Indian  if 
he  has  anything  to  say. 

Interpreter. — He  says  he  has  nothing  to  say  before 
the  other  chiefs  come. 

Senator  (to  interpreter). — Say  to  them  that  we  will 
excuse  them  for  the  present.  We  want  to  consult  to 
gether  about  what  is  best  to  be  done  for  them. 

The  interpreter  and  the  chiefs  walked  out  and  the 
committee  was  left  alone. 

"  It  is  very  evident/'  said  Senator  L.,  "  that  they 


CONGRESSMEN    ON    A    SPREE.  141 

have  no   idea   about  what  they  want.     They  are  like 
little  children,  and  we  must  do  the  best  we  can." 

"  It  is  a  waste  of  time,"  said  Representative  H.,  "  to 
talk  with  them.  We  must  exercise  our  own  judgment 
abo^t  what  is  good  for  them.  There  is  a  gentleman 
here  who  is  perfectly  familiar  with  the  whole  matter, 
and  I  think  we  would  save  time  by  asking  him  to  come 
in  and  give  us  his  opinion." 

~No  objection  was  made,  and  soon  after  Representative 
H.  walked  in  with  Perkins.  "  This  gentleman,"  said 
he,  "  has  been  here  during  all  the  war,  knows  all  about  it, 
and  knows  Indians  thoroughly.  Besides,  he  is  a  life 
long  friend  of  the  Indians,  and  his  opinion  should  have 
great  weight/' 

"  We  would  be  glad  to  hear  anything  you  have  to 
suggest,"  said  Senator  L. 

"  I  am  glad,"  replied  Perkins,  "  to  have  an  oppor 
tunity  to  say  something  in  behalf  of  these  poor  people. 
If  they  were  treated  with  kindness  we  would  never 
have  the  least  trouble  with  them.  An  Indian  is 
naturally  very  independent  and  desires  freedom  of 
action.  The  strictness  of  military  rule  is  very  irritating 
to  them,  and  the  consequence  is,  that  every  once  in 
awhile  they  break  out  into  open  war,  hoping  thereby 
to  better  their  condition.  There  are  as  fine  men  among 
them  as  can  be  found  among  any  race.  Some  of  them 
I  have  known  for  years,  and  there  is  a  cordial  friend 
ship  between  us.  They  have  been  hunted  by  the 
military  like  wolves,  and  no  mercy  has  been  shown 
them.  Those  who  are  here  are  very  poor,  and  every 
consecration  of  justice  and  humanity  demands  that  they 


142  CONGRESSMEN    ON    A    SPKEE. 

should  have  a  liberal  provision  made  for*them  by  Con 
gress.     I  should  suggest  that  they  be  divided  into  two 
tribes  of  about  equal  numbers,  and  each  given  a  reserva 
tion,   one   on   the   Arickaree    and    the    other   on  the 
Baha  Taya.     They  should  have  annuities  granted  them 
of  not  less  than  a  hundred  thousand  dollars  a  year  for 
five  years,  and  gradually  reduced  after  that.     The  an 
nuities  should  run  for  at  least  thirty  years,  until  a  new 
generation  grows  up  who  can  be   made    capable   of 
taking  care  of  themselves.     My  heart  aches  for  these 
Indians.     When  I  first  knew  them  they  were  rich  and 
prosperous.     Now  they  have  been  robbed  of  everything 
they  had  by  the  military  and  are  in  a  desperate  condi 
tion.     A  liberal  provision  for  these  Indians,  I  am  sure, 
would  meet  with  the  approval  of  the  whole  country.    I 
have  written  several  letters  to  different  religious  papers 
in  the  East,  describing  their  terrible  condition^  and  I 
am  sure  that  all  the  great  religious  bodies  will  greet 
such  action  by  Congress  with  their  hearty  approval.     I 
have  thought  of  going  East   and  speaking  in  their  be 
half,  in  order  to  excite   some  public  interest  and  thus 
influence  Congress  to  grant  large  appropriations.     I  am 
sorry  you  have  not  time  to  go  with  me  into  their  camp, 
so  I  could  show  you  the  utter  destitution  existing  there. 
It  is  a  disgrace  to   the  nation,  which  has  taken  from 
them  their  lands  and  deprived  them   of  their  natural 
means  of  living.     "Whatever  Congress  may  do,  it  will 
not  be  a  gratuity,  for  if  we  should  pay  them  for  the 
lands  we  have  taken  from  them,  it  would   amount  to  a 
great  deal  more  than  what  I  have  asked  in  their  behalf. 
I  hope  you  will  not  recommend  less  than  a  hundred 


CONGRESSMEN     ON     A     SPKEE.  143 

thousand  dollars  to  each  of  the  bands.  That  is  simple 
justice.  Anything  less  would  be  robbing  them  of 
what  is  actually  due  them." 

After  hearing  this  plea  for  the  Indians  the  com 
mittee  adjourned  to  hold  their  next  session  in  Council 
Bluffs. 

Arriving  at  Council  Bluffs,  they  went  to  the  Em 
pire  House,  upon  the  invitation  of  Perkins  and  his 
associates,  where  he  desired  them  to  consider  them 
selves  his  guests.  Their  entertainment  there  cost  the 
contractors  two  thousand  dollars,  but  they  counted  the 
money  well  invested.  The  most  costly  wines  and  ci 
gars  had  been  brought  up  from  St.  Louis.  Toasts  were 
proposed,  speeches  were  made,  and  they  held  high  car 
nival  until  long  after  midnight.  The  arrangements 
were  perfect,  and  nothing  occurred,  in  the  least,  to  mar 
the  enjoyment  of  the  occasion.  But  Perkins  made  one 
mistake.  He  forgot  the  editor  of  the  Weekly  Pioneer, 
until  ten  o'clock  in  the  evening,  and  when  he  sent  for 
him,  he  was  so  angry,  he  would  not  come.  The  conse 
quence  was,  that  the  next  paper  contained  a  minute^ac- 
count  of  this  drunken  carousal.  It  gave  samples  of 
speeches  made  by  the  honorable  gentlemen  after  the 
wine  had  driven  all  sense  of  the  fitness  of  things  out  of 
their  heads,  and  a  comical  account  of  how  one  represen 
tative  was  carried  to  bed  up  a  very  narrow  pair  of 
stairs.  They  did  not  seem  to  be  in  nearly  as  great  a 
hurry  to  get  back  to  Washington  as  when  they  were  at 
the  fort,  for  they  stayed  two  days  in  Council  Bluffs. 


144  A    PEACE    COMMISSION. 

CHAPTEK  XYIII. 

A  PEACE   COMMISSION. 

EKKINS'S  letters  to  the  religious  press  had  the 
desired  effect,  and  soon  after  a  "  peace  com 
mission"  came  out,  composed  "of  men  "emi 
nent  for  their  philanthropy."  These  gen 
tlemen,  for  the  most  part,  were  honest,  upright  and  be 
nevolent.  They  came  at  the  request  of  charitably  dis 
posed  associations  and  churches,  and  had  no  other 
desire  than  to  defend  the  Indians  against  the  oppres 
sions  of  the  whites,  introduce  schools  and  spread  the 
Christian  religion  among  them.  They  were  without 
experience,  and  knew  nothing  practically  of  either  In 
dians  or  contractors.  This  was  true  of  five  of  the  seven 
commissioners.  The  other  two  were  in  good  standing 
in  the  churches  to  which  they  belonged,  bat  one  was  a 
contractor  for  Indian  supplies,  the  said  contracts  hav 
ing  been  taken  under  a  fictitious  name,  and  the  other 
one  had  come,  not  for  any  love  for  the  Indian,  or  any 
benevolent  purpose  whatever,  but  because  he  owned  a 
large  amount  of  wild  lands,  and  he  would  have  an  op 
portunity  to  see  the  country  and  look  out  for  his  own 
private  interests.  Mr.  Wilmot  had  paid  his  taxes  and 
done  his  business  for  him,  so  he  called  to  talk  over  mat 
ters  with  him.  Commissioner  Hughs,  having  no  real 
interest  in  the  Indian  question,  one  way  or  the  other, 
listened  to  what  Mr.  Wilmot  had  to  say  on  that  sub- 


A    PEACE    COMMISSION.  145 

ject,  and  replied  that  he  would  introduce  him  to  Com 
missioner  Clark,  who  was  president  of  the  board,  and 
had  the  civilization  and  christianizing  of  the  Indians 
greatly  at  heart.  This  led  to  an  invitation  to  explain 
his  views  to  the  full  board,  and  a  meeting  was  called 
for  that  purpose.  When  they  were  assembled,  Mr.  Wil- 
mot  said : 

"  Your  object,  I  understand  to  be,  to  protect  the 
Indians  from  the  encroachments  of  the  whites,  to 
establish  schools  and  propagate  the  Christian  religion. 
Upon  the  subjects  of  school  teaching  and  preaching  the 
gospel,  I  would  be  a  poor  counselor.  I  would  refer 
those  matters  to  men  who  have  had  experience  in 
educational  affairs,  and  to  the  clergy.  It  seems  very 
evident  to  me  that  not  much  can  be  accomplished  in 
either  direction  until  some  form  of  government  is 
established  among  them,  with  sufficient  power  to  en 
force  its  decrees.  As  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  look 
into  history,  I  do  not  find  a  single  instance  where  any 
advancement  from  the  primitive  condition  of  man  has 
been  made  until  some  form  of  government  has  been 
established. 

"  When  Moses  undertook  to  lead  the  children  of 
Israel  from  a  state  of  bondage,  to  a  condition  in 
advance  of  that,  the  first  thing  he  did  was  to  give  them 
a  code  of  law  suited  to  the  conditions  which  sur 
rounded  them. 

"  These  Indians  could  live  far  separated  from  the 
whites,  under  laws  of  their  own,  regulating  matters 
concerning  only  themselves.  That  is  no  longer  possible. 
Laws  must  now  affect  both  them  and  their  relations  to 


14:6  A    PEACE    COMMISSION. 

the  whites  who  surround  them.  There  is  constant 
intercourse,  and  it  must  increase  year  by  year.  There 
should  be  laws  under  which  all  disputes  or  disagree 
ments  between  them  and  the  white  settlers  could  be 
adjudicated." 

"  I  have  often  said,"  remarked  Mr.  Clark,  "  that  there 
should  be  a  simple  code  of  laws  applicable  to  their 
present  condition." 

"  I  do  not  know,"  said  Mr.  "Wilmot,  "  what  you 
mean  by  '  a  simple  code  of  laws,  applicable  to  their  con 
dition.'  All  law  is  enacted  and  enforced  for  the  pur 
pose  of  protecting  the  life,  liberty  and  property  of  the 
individual.  Law  is  for  the  benefit  and  protection  of 
the  weak  against  the  strong.  The  weaker  and  more 
ignorant  the  person  is,  the  more  careful  have  the  enact 
ments  been  in  his  favor.  The  minor  and  the  imbecile 
are  more  carefully  protected  by  law  than  those  of  full 
age  and  strong  mind.  The  law  will  annul  and  set  aside 
a  contract  made  by  a  minor,  in  which  he  has  been 
cheated,  but  will  not  do  it  with  one  of  full  age  and 
strong  mind,  unless  fraud  is  proved." 

"  I  don't  see  what  all  that  has  to  do  with  Indians," 
said  Commissioner  Smith. 

"  It  has  this  to  do  with  it,"  replied  Wilmot.  "  You 
want  to  civilize  and  christianize  the  Indians.  You 
cannot  build  that  superstructure  upon  any  other  founda 
tion  than  written  law.  The  law  preceded  the  Gospel, 
not,  I  fancy,  by  accident,  but  by  infinite  wisdom.  With 
out  the  law  of  the  Old  Testament  there  would  have  never 
been  the  Christianity  of  the  New  Testament.  I  read  a 
story  somewhere  about  a  man  who  built  a  house  upon 


A    PEACE    COMMISSION.  147 

the  quicksand,  and  the  first  rain  that  came  washed  away 
the  sand,  and  down  went  the  house.  You  go  out  here 
and  build  a  school-house  and  a  church  among  the 
Indians.  Soon  there  is  a  dispute  between  some  of  the 
Indians  and  the  whites.  There  is  no  tribunal  before 
which  it  can  be  tried.  Both  sides  resort  to  force. 
Then  we  have  war,  and  that  is  the  last  of  teacher  or 
school-house,  and  of  the  preacher  and  the  church.  I 
I  wish  I  could  remember  where  I  read  that  story  about 
the  house  built  on  the  sand.  It  is  a  perfect  illustration 
of  this  whole  business." 

There  was  a  broad  smile  on  the  faces  of  the  com 
missioners,  and  Wilmot  wondered  what  amused  them. 

"  I  may  not  make  myself  understood,"  said  Wilmot, 
"  but  the  whole  subject  seems  very  plain  to  me.  For 
many  thousand  years  the  best  minds  of  every  race  and 
every  generation  have  been  thinking  out  a  system  of 
law  for  the  government  of  men.  We  have  divided  it 
into  civil  and  criminal,  statutory  and  common  law. 
Underlying  it  all  are  the  great  principles  of  equity, 
first  recorded  by  Moses.  It  is  scarcely  possible  for  a 
crime  to  be  committed  or  a  dispute  to  arise,  but  that  we 
shall  find  in  this  law,  either  enacted  in  form,  or  applied 
by  some  learned  and  just  judge,  a  true  principle  for  its 
just  punishment  or  adjudication.  It  is  applicable  to 
every  possible  phase  of  human  existence.  Its  enforce 
ment  among  any  people  will  render  life  and  property 
safe,  punish  crime,  make  regular  and  orderly  habits, 
stimulate  thought,  promote  industry,  make  sacred  the 
family  relation,  and  this,  if  it  is  not  civilization,  is  the 
beginning  of  civilization.  On  such  a  foundation  you 


148  A    PEACE    COMMISSION. 

can  build  your  superstructure  of  schools,  colleges, 
cliurclies,  eleemosynary  institutions,  and  from  it  springs 
the  arts  and  sciences.  Without  law  you  have  chaos. 
The  weak  are  trampled  down  by  the  strong,  and  might 
alone  makes  right." 

Mr.  Parkman  was  a  deeply-interested  listener.  To 
some  of  these  ideas  he  fully  subscribed,  but  after  all  it 
did  seem  as  though  there  was  something  not  quite  right 
about  it.  He  said  : 

"  I  agree  with  some  things  which  Mr.  Wilmot  said, 
but  I  cannot  agree  to  others.  He  seems  to  argue  that 
law  must  precede  Christianity.  I  think  that  Christian 
ity  must  precede  law.  No  race  of  men  have  ever 
been  civilized  until  the  Gospel  has  been  preached 
among  them.  A  thousand  years  ago  our  ancestors  were 
wilder  and  more  savage  than  the  Indian  of  to-day. 
Paul  first  preached  the  gospel  to  them,  and  as  Christian 
ity  spread  among  them  they  adopted  just  laws." 

"  The  Romans  were  there  with  their  laws  first," 
said  Wilmot. 

"  I  must  ask  again,"  said  Commissioner  Smith, 
"  what  all  this  has  to  do  with  the  Indians  ?" 

"I  think  that  the  whole  problem  could  be  solved," 
said  Wilmot,  "  by  extending  over  them  the  jurisdiction 
of  our  courts." 

"I  know  one  band,  at  least,"  said  Mr.  Parkman, 
"  who  are  very  anxious  to  have  missionaries  and 
teachers  sent  to  them.  I  think,  if  their  wishes  in  that 
regard  were  complied  with,  in  a  few  years  you  would 
find  them  a  self-supporting  and  Christian  community." 

"  I  think  you  would  still  have  a  band  of  paupers. 


A    PEACE    COMMISSION.  149 

That  thing  has  been  tried  now  for  a  hundred  years,  and 
the  mass  of  Indians  to-day  are  just  where  they  were 
then.  Give  them  legal  security  for  life  and  property, 
and  thus  stimulate  enterprise  and  industry,  if  you  want 
them  ever  to  become  self-supporting." 

"  I  think,"  said  Mr.  Clark,  the  sub  rosa  contractor 
and  president  of  the  board,  "  that  our  business  is  with 
things  as  they  exist.  These  Indians,  at  present,  if  put 
on  a  reservation,  cannot  be  self-supporting.  The  gov 
ernment  should  take  a  paternal  charge  of  them,  and 
supply  them  until  such  time  as  they  may  be  able  to 
take  care  of  themselves.  For  these  reasons,  large  appro 
priations  should  be  made  for  them." 

"  That  will  be  the  ruination  of  them,"  said  Wilmot. 
"  There  can  be  no  development  without  exertion,  and 
there  will  be  no  exertion  as  long  as  they  are  supported 
by  appropriations  made  by  the  general  Government. 
If  you  want  to  ruin  any  set  of  men,  just  place  them  by 
themselves,  clothe  and  feed  them,  and  give  them  noth 
ing  to  do." 

"There  is  nothing  to  hinder  them  from  working  if 
they  want  to,"  said  Mr.  Clark. 

"  I  never  heard  of  any  set  of  men  <  wanting '  to 
work,"  said  Wilmot.  "  Men  work  because  necessity 
drives  them  to  it,  and  when  the  necessity  ceases  the 
work  always  stops.  Look  at  the  sons  of  our  million 
aires.  Do  they  work  ?" 

"  I  don't  see  at  all  what  this  has  to  do  with  Indians," 
said  Mr.  Smith. 

"  And  how  soon  do  the  sons  of  the  rich  become 
profligate/'  continued  Wilmot,  without  noticing  the 


150  A    PEACE    COMMISSION. 

remark  of  the  commissioner,  "  and  waste  the  accumu 
lations  of  their  fathers.  Necessity  forces  men  to  labor, 
and  labor  develops  them.  When  you  provide  for  ex 
istence  without  work,  you  plan  for  the  lowest  possi 
ble  grade  of  existence." 

"  Mr.  Wilmot,"  said  Mr.  Smith,  "  if  you  have  any 
suggestions  to  make  I  would  be  pleased  to  listen,  but 
I  cannot  see  what  this  kind  of  talk  has  to  do  with  In 
dians." 

"  I  have  nothing  further  to  say,"  replied  Mr.  Wil 
mot,  and  he  immediately  left  the  room. 

That  night,  as  the  commission  were  holding  a  private 
session  in  a  room  of  the  Causeland  House,  a  knock  was 
heard  on  the  door. 

"  Come  in,"  said  Commissioner  Clark. 

The  door  opened  and  Perkins  wralked  in. 

Mr.  Clark,  who  seemed  to  be  an  old  acquaintance, 
introduced  him  to  the  other  commissioners. 

"  This  gentleman,"  said  he,  "  is  the  author  of  the 
letters  making  such  eloquent  pleas  in  behalf  of  these  poor 
Indians.  If  it  had  not  been  for  the  unselfish  interest 
which  he  has  manifested,  they  would  have  been  al 
lowed  to  perish  of  cold  and  hunger." 

Then,  addressing  Perkins,  he  said  : 

"  I  am  delighted  to  meet  you.  I  am  sure  my  asso 
ciates  will  give  great  weight  to  any  suggestions  you 
make." 

"  I  hope,"  said  Mr.  Smith,  "  that  this  gentleman 
may  have  something  to  say  about  Indians.  The  last 
one  introduced  by  you  wanted  to  talk  about  everything 
else  except  Indians." 


A    PEACE    COMMISSION.  151 

"  I  fancy  you  will  find  Mr.  Perkins  a  different  sort 
of  man  from  that  lawyer,"  said  Mr.  Clark. 

""What  lawyer?"  asked  Perkins. 

"  Mr.  Wilmot." 

A  look  of  utter  disgust  came  over  Perkins's  face. 

"  Do  you  know  him  ?  What  kind  of  a  man  is  he  ?" 
asked  Mr.  Hughs. 

"  Oh,  he  is  a  shrewd,  sharp  lawyer,"  said  Perkins, 
"  and  is  trying  to  work  up  a  case,  and  pocket  a  fee." 

"  Just  what  I  thought,"  said  Mr.  Smith. 

"  The  war,"  said  Perkins,  "  was  perhaps  necessary 
to  teach  the  Indians  the  power  of  the  government,  but 
the  extreme  cruelty  practiced  by  the  military  was 
wholly  unnecessary.  JSTow  that  they  are  subjected  and 
docile,  it  is  eminently  proper  that  mild  influences  be 
used.  The  military  have  robbed  them  of  everything. 
If  they  are  not  fed  they  will  die  of  starvation.  It  is 
inhuman  cruelty  to  leave  them  to  take  care  of  them 
selves,  as  has  been  suggested  by  some  who  think  the 
whole  race  should  be  exterminated.  If  that  is  the 
object,  let  them  form  them  in  line  and  shoot  them  dead, 
but  not  sentence  them  to  the  slow  torture  of  starvation. 
There  is  a  very  large  number  of  Indians  at  the  fort  on 
the  Little  Blue.  Congress  should  appropriate  not  less 
than  two  hundred  thousand  dollars  a  year  for  them. 
With  such  an  amount  churches  and  schools  could  be 
erected,  agricultural  implements  purchased,  and  the 
industries  of  civilized  life  introduced  among  them." 

"  There,   that  is  something    practical,    something 


152  A     PEACE    COMMISSION. 

humane,"  said  Mr.  Smith.  "  I  am  very  glad  you  have 
come  in." 

"  But  two  hundred  thousand  dollars  a  year  is  a  very 
large  sum,"  said  Mr.  Hughs. 

"It  is  much  cheaper  than  war,"  said  Perkins. 
"  This  campaign  has  already  cost  over  seven  hundred 
thousand  dollars." 

"  That  is  very  true,"  said  Mr.  Clark.  "  It  is  much 
cheaper  to  feed,  clothe,  educate  and  christianize  the 
Indians  than  to  fight  them.  I — " 

Here  another  knock  on  the  door  interrupted  them. 
A  servant  entered  and  handed  Mr.  Clark  a  hugh 
envelope.  He  opened  it,  and  after  glancing  at  the 
contents,  said  : 

"This  is  from  the  President,  authorizing  this 
commission  to  proceed  to  the  Little  Blue  and  make 
treaties  with  all  the  bands  of  Indians  now  there,  or 
who  may  assemble  there  before  we  return." 

Some  of  the  commissioners  did  not  seem  pleased 
with  this  announcement,  but  it  was  very  evident  that 
Perkins  and  Mr.  Clark  were  delighted.  Shortly  after, 
the  commission  adjourned  until  the  next  day.  Perkins 
remained  with  Mr.  Clark  after  the  others  had  retired. 

"  Things  are  working  splendid,"  said  Perkins. 

"  Yes,  better  than  I  expected.  I  did  not  look  for 
this  for  four  or  five  days  yet,"  said  Mr.  Clark. 

"  If  you  can  get  out  there,  make  the  treaties  and 
have  them  confirmed  before  Congress  adjourns,  two 
years  from  now  we  will  all  be  well  heeled.  But  are 
you  certain  about  this  commission?  Hughs,  Smith  and 
yourself  are  all  right.  You  have  got  to  have  one 


A    PEACE    COMMISSION.  153 

more  on  whom  you  can  rely.  It  takes  four  to 
make  a  majority." 

"  I  liave  been  troubled  about  it,  but  I  could  not  get 
it  made  up  any  other  way.  There  is  Borden.  He  is 
very  conscientious,  religious  and  tender-hearted.  You 
struck  the  right  theme  in  what  you  said  to-night.  I 
saw  the  tears  come  into  his  eyes  when  you  were  talking 
about  the  Indians  starving.  You  keep  that  up  and  he 
will  be  all  right  for  big  appropriations.  Wilmot  made 
sure  of  Smith.  Smith  is  an  old  blue-stocking,  and  when 
he  was  talking  about  giving  the  administration  of  the 
law  precedence  over  preaching,  Smith  set  him  down  for 
a  regular  heretic.  He's  down  on  Wilmot,  and  when  he 
once  gets  set,  he's  there  while  time  lasts." 

"  I  am  more  afraid  of  Wilmot  than  any  man  in  this 
country,"  said  Perkins,  "  and  I  have  been  thinking 
that  we  had  better  take  him  in.  There  is  not  much 
paying  law  business  in  this  part  of  the  country,  and  I 
think  a  moderate-sized  slice  would  satisfy  him.  He's 
as  sharp  as  lightning,  and  I  don't  want  him  to  be  fight 
ing  us.  I'll  tell  you  why  I  think  he  would  accept. 
When  the  trouble  first  commenced  he  was  terribly  op 
posed  to  the  war,  but  when  he  was  commissioned  as 
captain  of  a  company,  he  accepted  and  fought  like  a 
tiger.  It  was  him  who  gave  Little  Wolf  such  an  awful 
thrashing.  The  military  were  all  afraid  of  Little  Wolf, 
but  when  Wilmot  got  after  him,, he  made  short  work  of 
it.  If  that  Injun  hadn't  got  whipped  they  would  have 
been  fighting  yet." 

"  I  don't  know  about  that,"  said  Mr.  Clark.  "  Are 
7* 


154  A     GUARDED     APPROACH. 

you  sure  lie  would  come  in  if  we  gave  him  something 
pretty  nice  ?" 

"  Of  course  he  would.     Every  man  has  his  price." 

"  He  would  have  to  be  approached  very  carefully," 
replied  Mr.  Clark.  "  I'll  feel  of  him  a  little,  to-mor 
row,  and  see  how  he  takes  it." 

"  Hadn't  you  better  get  out  to  the  Little  Blue  as 
soon  as  possible?"  asked  Perkins. 

"No,  that  would  be  the  worst  thing  in  the  world. 
You  see  we  don't  want  too  much  time  out  there,  for 
complications  might  arise.  Now,  there  are  two  or 
three  men  on  the  commission  who  have  very  large  busi 
ness  interests  on  their  hands,  and  must  necessarily  soon 
return  East.  If  we  can  manage  to  keep  them  here  for 
a  week,  they  can't  possibly  stay  there  more  than  a  day 
or  two,  and  that  is  as  long  as  it  is  safe." 

"  I'll  give  in  to  you  for  management  every  time," 
said  Perkins  with  a  laugh,  and  the  two  men  separated. 


CHAPTEE  XIX. 

A   GUARDED   APPROACH. 


FTER  tea,    the    night   Mr.    Parkman    had 
attended  the  session  of  the  commission,  he 
sat  down  by  his  little  table  and  fell   into 
deep  thought. 
"  A  penny  for  your  thoughts,"  said  Mrs.  Parkman. 


A    GUAEDED    APPROACH.  155 

"  I  was  thinking  of  what  Mr.  "Wilmot  said  to-day," 
and  then  he  told  her  of  the  discussion,  and  how  he  did 
not  seem  able  to  answer  the  argument  which  Mr. 
Wilmot  made.  "  I  know,"  said  Mr.  Parkman,  "  that 
men  are  only  regenerated,  saved  and  elevated  by  the 
Gospel.  I  know  that  in  towns  where  the  Gospel  is  not 
preached  and  no  public  worship  is  held,  that  in  a  short 
time  the  whole  population  becomes  depraved.  Now, 
there  is  the  town  of  Riverton.  Last  week  some  of  the 
greatest  sinners  in  the  place  came  to  me  and  asked  that 
regular  preaching  be  established  there,  for,  they  said, 
that  the  place  was  becoming  so  desperately  wicked  that 
some  of  the  best  citizens  threatened  to  leave.  There  is 
no  murdering  or  stealing  there,  or  anything  the  law 
can  take  hold  of,  but  the  men  are  drunken,  the  little 
children  on  the  streets  are  shockingly  profane,  the 
young  of  both  sexes  are  losing  all  virtue  and  sense  of 
modesty.  Now,  the  law  won't  save  a  place  like  that, 
and  I  know  it.  Yet  Mr.  Wilmot  insists  that  all  there 
is  good  in  the  world  grows  out  of  the  enactment  and 
enforcement  of  good  laws.  There  is  something  wrong 
about  his  argument." 

"  I  think,"  said  Mrs.  Parkman,  "  that  you  forgot 
that  your  professions  lead  you  into  entirely  different 
spheres  of  thought,  and  that  both  of  you  may  be  right. 
Law  protects  life  and  property  and  preserves  liberty. 
This  brings  material  welfare  to  men,  and  makes  it 
possible  to  densely  populate  the  world.  It  pertains 
entirely  to  creature  comforts.  It  does  not  of  necessity 
bring  peace  and  happiness.  A  man  may  be  eminent  in 
science  and  art,  and  of  the  profoundest  scholarship, 


156  A     GUARDED    APPEOACH. 

have  all  of  what  we  call  civilization,  and  yet  be  more 
miserable  than  the  untutored  savage.  You  may  take 
the  savage,  build  him  a  palace,  give  him  gold  and 
silver,  the  finest  raiment,  and  surround  him  with  all 
the  luxuries  of  civilization,  and  yet  he  is  a  savage  still. 
If  he  is  blood-thirsty  and  cruel,  you  may  add  to  that  a 
finished  education,  and  you  have  simply  made  him 
more  powerful  to  do  wrong.  There  is  something  to  be 
done  in  the  man,  which  cannot  be  effected  by  outward 
circumstances — something  that  law  cannot  do.  His 
desires  and  aspirations  must  be  changed.  Revenge  and 
cruelty  must  give  place  to  love  and  peace.  Law  cannot 
accomplish  this.  Your  field  of  labor  lies  in  this  direc 
tion.  Mr.  "VVilraot's  in  securing  to  them  life,  liberty 
and  property." 

"  I  will  tell  him  that  the  next  time  I  meet  him," 
said  Mr.  Parkman. 

"  Why  not  invite  him  over  here  to  tea  some  even 
ing?"  asked  Mrs.  Parkman. 

"  I  wish  you  would,"  said  Jennie  Walker,  "  I  do  so 
like  to  hear  such  discussions." 

The  next  day  Mr.  Parkman  went  into  Wilmot's 
office  to  extend  the  invitation  to  him,  and  found  Com 
missioner  Clark  there,  and  it  was  arranged  that  they 
should  both  spend  the  evening  with  Mr.  Parkman.  He 
stayed  only  a  moment,  for  Wilmot  was  just  starting  to 
the  court-room  to  argue  a  case,  and  could  not  wait. 

Jennie's  quick  ears  heard  Mr.  Parkman's  announce 
ment  to  his  wife   of   the   coming   of  Mr.  Clark   and 
Wilmot,  and  her  heart  bounded  up  in  her  throat. 
To  a  woman  who  has  a  musical  taste,  it  is  as  natural 


A    GUARDED    APPROACH.  157 

to  sing  when  she  is  happy  as  for  a  bird,  and  all  that 
afternoon,  every  few  moments  she  sang  scraps  of  songs 
or  hymns,  as  she  made  preparation  for  the  expected 
guests. 

After  tea  was  over,  Mr.  Clark  said : 

"  I  called  upon  Mr.  Wilmot  to-day  to  have  a  talk 
with  him  privately,  for  I  was  very  much  impressed 
with  what  he.  said  to  the  commission." 

"  So  was  I,"  said  Mr.  Parkman,  "  although  I  did 
not  entirely  agree  with  him.  I  have  since  thought 
over  the  matter,  and  I  want  to  explain  my  views  to 
him." 

Then  Mr.  Parkrnan  repeated  what  his  wife  had 
said. 

"  I  guess  you  are  entirely  right,"  replied  Wilmot. 
"  I  said  in  the  beginning  I  would  be  a  poor  counselor 
in  regard  to  those  matters,  and  referred  them  to  the 
clergy." 

There  was  evidently  to  be  no  discussion  of  those 
points,  and  Mr.  Clark  thought  it  a  very  favorable  time 
to  Bound  him  on  the  point  in  which  he  was  interested. 
This  is  the  way  he  "  approached  "  him. 

"I  understand,"  said  he,  "that  you  rather  out 
fought  the  regular  soldiers  during  the  late  war." 

"  That  is  a  mistake,"  said  Wilmot ;  "  I  don't  see  who 
could  have  been  so  foolish  as  to  have  so  informed  you." 

"  Why,  I  was  informed  that  you  were  the  officer 
who  finally  defeated  Little  Wolf." 

"  My  company  had  a  skirmish  with  that  chief,  but 
we  would  have  accomplished  nothing  had  not  Major 
liodson  come  upon  them  in  the  rear  with  two  com- 


158  A    GUARDED    APPROACH. 

panics  of  cavalry.  My  part  was  a  very  small  one  in 
the  late  war,  and  I  am  glad  that  it  was.  There  is 
nothing  to  be  proud  of  on  our  side." 

Mr.  Clark  saw  he  was  on  the  wrong  track.  Wilmot 
did  not  seem  to  appreciate  compliments,  so  he  "ap 
proached  "  from  another  direction,  and  said : 

"If  these  Indians  make  a  treaty  with  the  Govern 
ment,  and  agree  to  go  upon  reservations,  the  control  of 
them  must  be  put  into  the  hands  of  agents.  My  experi 
ence  has  taught  me  that  it  is  very  hard  to  find  men  hav 
ing  the  necessary  qualifications,  who  are  willing  to  ac 
cept  of  such  positions.  To  be  a  successful  agent,  a  man 
must  possess  great  executive  ability,  have  a  good  knowl 
edge  of  commercial  affairs — for  large  amounts  of  goods 
of  various  kinds  must  be  handled  and  inspected  by  him. 
He  must  understand  farming,  superintendence  of 
schools,  have  mechanical  knowledge  sufficient  to  direct 
their  rude  efforts  at  building  themselves  permanent 
habitations  ;  he  must  oversee  the  building  and  running 
of  saw-mills,  flouring  mills,  blacksmith  shops,  carpenter 
shops,  and  the  introduction  of  various  other  industries 
among  them.  He  must  be  a  man  of  the  purest  morals, 
and  have  the  power  to  command  men  ;  establish  laws 
and  regulations  for  the  formation  of  society ;  and  be  a 
mild  and  firm  judge,  for  to  him  must  be  referred  all  the 
disputes  which  may  occur  among  a  large  number  of 
people.  Of  course  any  man  who  may  be  selected  will 
fail  in  some  of  these  departments  ;  but  if  he  is  honest, 
energetic  and  intelligent  he  will  succeed  in  most.  The 
country  will  soon  settle  up  around  them,  and  a  new 
state  will  be  formed  in  a  few  years.  The  man  who  can 


A    GUARDED     APPROACH.  159 

take  these  Indians,  and  make  of  them  a  prosperous  and 
self-supporting  community,  will  do  a  great  service  to 
liis  country  and  to  humanity." 

"  I  don't  know  where  you  could  find  a  man  who 
possesses  the  qualifications  you  have  enumerated,"  said 
Wilmot. 

"  I  do  not  expect  to  find  one  possessing  them  all,  but 
I  hope  to  find  one  possessing  most  of  them." 

"  It  would  take  a  George  "Washington,  Alexander 
Hamilton  and  Judge  Marshall  combined,"  said  Wilmot. 

Mr.  Clark  laughed,  and  Mrs.  Parkman  said  : 

"  There  is  one  other  qualification,  and  the  most  im 
portant  of  all,  which  you  have  not  enumerated.  He 
should  be  a  thoroughly  religious  man." 

"  And  there  is  another,"  said  Jennie.  "  He  should 
understand  the  Indian  language." 

"  A  man  who  would  undertake  to  perform  such 
duties,  with  any  expectation  of  succeeding,  would  have 
to  possess  an  unlimited  amount  of  self-confidence,"  said 
Wilmot. 

"  Some  one  'must  undertake  it,"  replied  Mr.  Clark, 
"  and  he  who  does  so,  is  engaged  in  a  noble  work.  It  is 
not  for  himself  he  labors.  It  is  to  help  others  who  can 
not  help  themselves." 

A  sudden  seriousness  came  into  the  face  of  Mr. 
Wilmot.  Mr.  Clark  had  found  the  right  line  of  "  ap 
proach"  to  his  man.  I  do  not  know  that  there  has 
been  another  man  in  these  modern  times  like  Wilmot. 
Through  all  his  life  there  were  never  more  than  one  or 
two  persons  who  understood  him.  Unselfishness  is  a 
good  trait,  but  an  abnormal  development  of  it  produces 


160  A    GUARDED    APPROACH. 

a  character,  which,  to  the  world  at  large,  is  an  enigma. 
Mr.  Wilmot  was  not  a  minister,  but  a  lawyer,  and  yet, 
the  only  real  enjoyment  he  ever  had  in  life,  was 
when  he  was  helping  others.  lie  never  could  lay  plans 
to  help  himself.  lie  never  could  become  interested  in 
anything  which  pertained  to  himself.  He  would  work 
for  a  client  with  untiring  energy,  and  while  the  contest 
went  on  he  was  happy.  When  he  did  not  have  some  one 
to  help,  he  sunk  into  chronic  melancholy,  and  only 
came  out  of  it  when  some  new  opportunity  to  aid  some 
body  else  presented  itself.  Another  trait  of  his  charac 
ter  was  abnormally  developed,  and  that  was  sensitive 
ness.  But  this  was  only  in  one  direction.  He  would 
go  into  an  election  and  work  for  a  candidate  whom  he 
took  a  fancy  to  help,  with  an  energy  that  never  ceased, 
until  the  last  vote  was  counted.  If  harsh  things  were 
said  about  him,  if  he  was  charged  with  all  manner  of 
crimes,  it  did  not  affect  him  in  the  least.  In  fact,  he 
rather  enjoyed  it.  But  let  some  one  whom  he  considered 
his  friend  say  one  harsh  word,  and  Wilmot  was 
wounded  to  his  very  heart's  core,  and  he  would  suffer 
the  most  intense  agony  for  days.  Most  of  those  whom 
he  had  aided  turned  against  him.  While  this  caused 
him  the  most  intense  suffering,  he  was  just  as  anxious 
the  next  day  to  help  somebody  else,  or  if  one  of  them 
should  come  to  him  again,  he  was  just  as  ready  to  assist 
as  he  was  the  first  time.  If  one  did  seem  to  appreciate 
his  kindness,  the  slightest  expression  of  it  put  him  into 
a  state  of  perfect  bliss.  He  always  denied,  and  hon 
estly  too,  that  he  deserved  any  credit  for  the  assistance 
he  rendered  others.  He  said  he  did  it  because  he 


A    GUARDED     APPROACH.  161 

would  feel  bad  if  he  didn't,  whereas  the  man  whom  it 
made  to  feel  bad  to  do  it,  and,  notwithstanding  that 
fact,  did  help  others  who  needed  aid,  ought  to  have 
great  credit  for  doing  so.  He  deserved  no  praise  for 
saving  Jennie  Walker,  for  if  he  had  not,  he  would  have 
abandoned  himself  to  a  fate  a  hundred  times  worse  than 
death,  for  existence  would  have  been  a  continued  agony 
every  afterward.  Of  course,  everything  a  man  like 
this  did  was  misrepresented.  If  he  devoted  his  time, 
money  and  energies  to  building  a  church,  for  the  pur 
pose  of  helping  some  poor  preacher,  or  feeble  congrega 
tion,  it  was  said  he  was  trying  to  get  political  influence 
with  that  denomination.  If  he  supported  a  man  for 
office,  it  was  agreed  that  the  spoils  should  be  divided. 
The  consequence  was,  that  although  it  was  conceded 
he  was  a  talented  man,  he  was  about  as  unpopular  with 
the  general  public  as  a  man  could  be.  He  went  away 
from  Mr.  Parkman's  absorbed  with  the  subject  of  help 
ing  these  Indians.  He  thought  over  all  the  men  he 
knew,  in  the  endeavor  to  select  some  one  competent  to 
undertake  the  charge  of  them. 

The  next  day  Mr.  Clark  called  at  his  office  and  pro 
posed  that  he  should  accept  the  appointment.  The 
offer  was  a  perfect  surprise  to  Wilmot.  At  first  he 
absolutely  refused,  then  agreed  to  take  the  matter  into 
consideration,  and  finally,  before  the  commission  left, 
consented  to  take  it  if  it  was  offered  to  him. 

In  conveying  the  information  to  Perkins,  Mr. 
Clark  said  :  "  I  am  not  entirely  satisfied  about  Wilmot. 
It  is  one  of  three  things  with  him.  He  is  either 
entirely  unsophisticated  in  these  matters,  or  he  intends 


162  MILITARY    MEDDLERS. 

to  get  on  the  inside  and  beat  us,  or  he  wants  more  than 
we  can  give  him.  That  fellow  is  shrewd  and  deep, 
now,  I  tell  you." 

"  He'll  want  something  pretty  nice,  I  expect,"  said 
Perkins,  "  but  if  we  get  these  appropriations  through 
we  can  afford  to  give  it  to  him.  Whatever  happens,  I 
don't  want  to  fight  him.  It  is  a  good  deal  cheaper  to 
give  him  something." 


CHAPTEK  XX. 

MILITARY    MEDDLERS. 

HE  commission  remained  in  Council  Bluffs 
six  days  before  they  could  get  away. 
Great  delay  was  caused  in  securing  trans 
portation,  and  when  they  were  finally 
ready  to  go  and  drove  to  the  river,  they  found  that  the 
ferry-boat  was  disabled,  and  could  not  be  used  for  a 
whole  day.  At  last  they  arrived  at  the  fort,  were 
assigned  quarters,  and  the  Indians  were  informed  of 
their  presence  and  the  chiefs  invited  to  come  in. 

The  council  opened  with  a  statement  from  Mr. 
Clark,  and  a  letter  of  the  President,  appointing  the 
commission  and  defining  its  powers,  was  read  and  inter 
preted  to  them  by  Jack.  Just  as  Jack  finished,  a 
messenger  handed  Mr.  Clark  a  letter.  He  seemed  to 
be  somewhat  disturbed  by  it,  and  spoke  to  Mr.  Smith 


MILITARY    MEDDLERS.  163 

and  Mr.  Hughes.  Then  Mi*  Clark  arose  and  said  that 
the  commission,  before  further  proceedings  were  had, 
desired  to  consult  together,  and  they  retired  to  another 
room.  All  were  anxious  to  know  the  contents,  and 
crowded  around  Mr.  Clark,  who  held  the  letter  in  his 
hands. 

"I  will  read  it,"  said  Mr.  Clark. 

"  MY  DEAR  MR.  CLARK  : 

"  I  understand  that  parties  who  are  opposed  to 
granting  annuities  to  these  Indians,  have  had  several 
interviews  with  Captain  Jack,  and  made  arrangements 
through  the  military  to  have  him  act  as  interpreter. 
He  has  considerable  influence  with  the  Indians  and 
would  be  very  unreliable  in  that  capacity.  I  would 
recommend  for  that  place  Shonnee,  an  Indian,  and  not 
a  white  man.  He  belongs  to  Two  Strike's  band.  They 
should  certainly  be  allowed  to  have  one  of  their  own 
race  to  act  for  them  in  a  matter  which  is  of  so  much 
importance  to  them.  Yours  truly, 

«H.  L.  PERKINS." 

"  That  seems  only  just,"  said  Mr.  Borden.  "  White 
men  who  live  with  the  Indians  are  never  to  be  trusted. 
I  am  in  favor  of  sending  for  this  Indian  to  act  as 
interpreter." 

"I  hope  he  is  near  at  hand,"  said  Mr.  Hilliard. 
"  For  positively  I  can't  stay  here  after  to-morrow.  I 
must  be  back  to  attend  the  directors'  meeting  of  my 
company." 

The  commission  returned  to  the  room,  and  inquiry 


1G4  MILITARY   MEDDLERS. 

was  made  for  Shonnee.  In  a  few  minutes  lie  came 
in. 

"  Do  you  speak  English  ?"  asked  Mr.  Clark. 

"  Yes,"  lie  replied. 

"  Are  you  a  full-blooded  Indian  ?" 

"  Yes." 

"  What  tribe  do  you  belong  to  ft" 

"  Two  Strike's  tribe." 

"Are  you  willing  to  act  as  interpreter  to  this 
commission  ?" 

"  How  much  pay  ?"  asked  Shonnee. 

"  We  will  give  you  three  dollars  a  day." 

"  I  will  talk  English  a  heap,"  said  Shonnee. 

There  was  an  animated  conversation  going  on 
between  Jack  and  Red  Iron  in  the  Indian  language, 
and  presently  Red  Iron  arose  to  address  the  commission 
and  Jack  stood  up  by  his  side  to  interpret. 

"  We  have  dispensed  with  your  services,"  said  Mr. 
Clark  to  Jack.  "  If  the  chief  desires  to  speak  Shonnee 
will  interpret." 

Jack's  eyes  began  to  flash  fire.  He  unconsciously 
shifted  his  revolver  belt  around.  Red  Iron  spoke  a 
few  words. 

"  He  says,"  said  Jack,  "  that  I  am  his  friend  and  he 
wants  me  to  interpret  for  him." 

u  Did  he  say  that?"  asked  Mr.  Clark  of  Shonnee. 

"  He  say  Jack  heap  bad,"  said  Shonnee. 

"  You're  a  liar !"  said  Jack,  and  he  jerked  out  his 
revolver,  but  Red  Iron  stiuck  his  hand  up  and  the  ball 
went  into  the  ceiling.  In  a  second  more  the  strong 
arms  of  Red  Iron  were  c'asped  around  Jack  and  his 


MILITARY    MEDDLERS.  1G5 

pinioned  to  his  side.  The  two  guards  who  were  on 
duty  took  away  his  pistols  and  he  was  led  off  to  the 
guard-house,  and  Mr.  Clark's  interpreter  had  the  floor. 

"  What  a  desperado  that  fellow  is,"  said  Mr.  Bor- 
den.  "It  is  lucky  jou  got  that  letter  from  Mr.  Per 
kins,  or  we  might  have  been  led  into  another  war 
through  him." 

No  more  counciling  was  done  that  day. 

Jack  had  not  been  in  the  guard-house  half  an  hour 
when  Colonel  Greene  called  in  person.  Jack  sat  on  a 
bench  in  moody  silence. 

"  Why,  Jack,"  said  the  Colonel,  "  I  am  surprised. 
What  have  you  been  doing  ?" 

"  Making  a  fool  of  myself,"  said  Jack,  "fled Iron 
has  got  more  sense  now  than  I  have." 

"  I  know  all  about  it,"  said  Colonel  Greene.  "  You 
did  act  foolishly,  but  you  mustn't  stay  in  here.  This 
will  never  do." 

"  How  am  I  to  get  out,  I  would  like  to  know  ?" 

"  I'll  issue  an  order  for  your  discharge,  providing 
you  will  give  me  your  word  to  keep  the  peace  toward 
Shonnee,  Perkins  and  the  commissioners." 

"  Good  Heavens  !  is  Perkins  here  f 

"  Yes,  he  came  last  night." 

"  That  accounts  for  the  whole  business." 

"  Well,  will  you  keep  the  peace  ?" 

"  I  reckon  I'll  have  to.  They  took  my  shooting- 
irons  away." 

"  That  is  rather  indefinite.  Will  you  keep  the 
peace  ?" 

"  Now  see  here,  Colonel,  that's  being  pretty  hard  on 


166  MILITARY    MEDDLERS. 

a  feller.     I'd  swore  to  shoot   Perkins  on  sicrht.     He's 

Zj 

the  worst  devil  on  earth,"  and  Jack  scratched  his  head 
and  shifted  himself  around. 

"  You  don't  want  to  stay  here,  do  you  ?"  asked  the 
Colonel. 

"  Can't  say  that  I  do." 

"  Well,  if  you  will  give  me  your  word  that  you 
won't  do  any  shooting  at  Perkins,  Shonnee  or  the  com 
missioners,  you  may  go  out." 

"  Every  cussed  one  of  'em  ought  to  be  killed,  and 
you  know  it  ;  but  I  reckon  I'll  have  to  promise,  pro 
viding  they  don't  shoot  first." 

The  door  was  opened  and  Jack  walked  out. 

Both  Perkins  and  Mr.  Clark  were  very  much  enraged 
when  they  learned  that  Jack  was  at  liberty  ;  but  when 
Perkins  found  out  the  conditions  of  his  release  he  was 
somewhat  easier  in  his  mind. 

Jack  went  straight  to  Badger's  camp,  and  there  he 
found  out  that  Perkins  had  had  Shonnee  with  him  all 
night  at  the  fort,  where  he  had  given  him  a  rifle,  four 
or  five  blankets,  some  money  and  a  lot  of  trinkets  of 
various  kinds.  Two  or  three  of  Badger's  band  could 
understand  some  English,  and  through  them  the  band 
had  learned  that  it  was  proposed  to  make  Perkins  their 
agent,  they  having  overheard  something  that  one  of  the 
commissioners  had  said.  The  whole  band  was  in  an  up- 
'  roar  about  it,  Meha's  uncle  taking  a  very  active  part  in 
the  discussion.  Perkins  was  known  among  them  by  a 
name  which  signified  "  The-man- who- cheats."  They 
declared  they  would  not  submit  to  have  him  their  agent, 


MILITARY    MEDDLEKS.  167 

and  appointed  a  delegation  to  go  to  Colonel  Greene  and 
protest  against  it. 

About  sundown  the  delegation  came  to  Colonel 
Greene's  head-quarters,  with  Jack  for  their  interpreter. 
Meha's  uncle  was  the  first  to  speak.  lie  said  : 

"  We  have  heard  that  The  man-who-cheats  is  to  be 
appointed  our  agent.  He  is  a  very  bad  man.  We  do 
not  want  him.  Since  we  surrendered  you  have  been 
very  kind  to  us  and  we  think  you  are  our  friend.  We 
need  somebody  to  help  us  and  we  come  to  you  for 
help.  We  want  you  to  prevent  this  man  from  being 
appointed  our  agent.  We  want  some  good  man." 

"  Tell  them,"  said  Colonel  Greene,  "  that  I  cannot 
help  them  in  this  matter  at  all.  I  have  nothing  to  do 
with  appointing  agents." 

After  the  Indians  had  consulted  together  over 
this  answer,  Jack  said : 

"  They  want  to  know  if  you  won't  write  a  letter  to 
the  President  and  tell  him  what  kind  of  a  man  this 
Perkins  is." 

The  Colonel  said  he  would  write  the  letter,  if  they 
desired  him  to  do  so,  but  that  it  would  do  no  good. 

(That  night  Colonel  Greene  sat  down,  and  wrote, 
giving  Perkins's  history,  and  the  Indians'  objections  to 
him.  The  letter  was  opened  by  the  President's  private 
secretary,  who  seeing  that  it  referred  to  Indian  affairs, 
sent  it  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior.  By  his  private 
secretary  it  was  sent  to  the  Commissioner  of  Indian 
Affairs.  The  Commissioner  glanced  at  it,  and  seeing 
that  it  concerned  the  Indians  at  the  fort  on  the  Little 
Blue,  filed  it  away  with  other  papers,  to  be  turned  over 


168  MILITAliY    HEDDLEKS. 

to  the  Peace  Commission  when  it  returned.  The 
appeal  went  back  to  the  very  persons  appealed  from, 
for  final  decision,  and  that  is  the  result  of  all  such 
efforts.) 

That  evening  the  commission  had  a  session  to  dis 
cuss  matters  among  themselves. 

"  I  do  not  like  the  looks  of  that  Indian,  Shonnee," 
said  Mr.  Borden. 

"  Nor  I  either,"  said  Mr.  Hillard.  "  I  don't  think 
he  is  truthful.  He  said  he  was  a  full-blooded  Indian, 
and  he  is  evidently  a  half-breed." 

"  You  can't  tell  whether  an  Indian  is  a  half-breed 
or  not  by  his  color,"  said  Mr.  Clark.  "  Many  of  the 
full-bloods  are  lighter  than  some  of  the  half-breeds." 

"  Well,  it  won't  do  to  trust  to  that  ruffian  Jack," 
said  Mr.  Smith. 

"It  was  a  direct  insult  to  this  commission,"  said 
Mr.  Clark,  "  for  the  military  authorities  to  release  him. 
In  every  effort  to  civilize  and  christianize  the  Indians 
we  have  to  meet  the  opposition  of  the  regular  army. 

"  Who  is  this  Captain  Jack,  as  they  call  him,"  asked 
Mr.  Hilliard. 

"  Oh !  he  is  one  of  the  low  whites  who  live  with 
the  Indians  ;  one  of  those  ruffians,  who,  to  escape  the 
punishment  of  crime,  has  fled  from  the  vengeance  of 
society  to  live  among  the  Indians,"  said  Mr.  Clark. 

"  But  this  Indian  Shonnee  does  not  speak  English 
well  at  all,"  said  Mr.  Hilliard,  "  and  I  am  afraid  he 
will  not  be  able  to  interpret  correctly.  I  don't  like  the 
shape  affairs  have  assumed.  I  had  a  talk  with  Colonel 
Greene,  and  he  seems  to  be  a  perfect  gentleman.  He 


A    GOVERNMENT    LINGUIST.  169 

says  he  has  always  found  Captain  Jack  to  be  honest 
and  reliable,  and  that  Eed  Iron  and  he  have  long  been 
friends,  and  he  thinks  that  Jack  interpreted  correctly 
what  Red  Iron  said." 

"  Colonel  Greene  has  the  outward  appearance  of  a 
gentleman,"  said  Mr.  Clark,  "  but  he  wants  to  get  up 
another  Indian  war,  thereby  hoping  to  get  promotion 
and  glory.  I  never  take  the  word  of  these  military 
men  unless  it  is  confirmed  from  other  sources.  Their 
influence  upon  the  Indians  has  been  of  the  most  degra 
ding  character.  Not  long  since  one  of  them,  Lieutenant 
Blake,  enticed  away  an  Indian  girl  who  was  living  in 
the  family  of  a  missionary.  If  we  are  ever  to  teach 
them  correct  morals  we  must  manage  to  keep  them 
from  contact  with  the  soldiers.  Army  officers  are 
always  meddling  and  interfering  with  the  work  of 
properly-constituted  commissions." 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

A  GOVEBNMENT  LINGUIST. 

I1E    next    morning    the    council  assembled 
again.       The  chiefs  were    all    there  and 
Shonnee  was  ready  to  interpret.     Mr.  Clark 
addressed  them :  "  "We,"  said  he,  "  are  sent 
here  by  the  Great  Father  himself.     What  we  say  is  the 
same  as  if  the  Great  Father  was  here  and  said  it  him- 
8 


170  A    GOVERNMENT    LINGUIST. 

self.  We  have  come  to  help  you,  to  hear  what  you 
have  to  say  and  to  make  a  treaty  with  you.  Now  we 
will  hear  you." 

This  is  the  way  Shonnee  interpreted  it : 

"  He  says  the  Great  Father  has  sent  them  to  make  a 
treaty.  The  Great  Father  wants  to  give  you  a  great 
many  presents.  He  will  make  you  rich,  if  you  will  do 
what  he  wants  you  to  do.  He  wants  to  help  you." 

A  long  silence  followed.  Not  an  Indian  moved  or 
spoke. 

"  Tell  them,"  said  Mr.  Clark,  "  that  we  are  ready 
to  hear  what  they  have  to  say." 

"  They  want  you  to  make  some  speeches,"  inter 
preted  Shonnee. 

Then  there  was  another  long  silence. 

"Why  don't  you  talk?"  said  Shonnee  to  Eed  Iron. 

"  We  want  Jack  to  interpret  for  us,"  said  Red  Iron. 

"What  did  he  say?"  asked  Mr.  Clark. 

"  He  want  to  know  Captain  Jack  where  is  ?  "  said 
Shonnee. 

The  commissioners  consulted  together,  and  Mr. 
Clark  replied : 

"  We  do  not  know  anything  about  Captain  Jack 
since  he  was  taken  away  by  the  soldiers.  We  can  have 
nothing  further  to  do  with  him." 

"He  says,"  said  Sbonnee,  "that  Captain  Jack  is  a 
very  bad  man,  that  he  knows  nothing  about  him,  and 
will  have  nothing  to  do  with  him,  and  that  1  am  a  goo<J 
interpreter." 

At  this  point  Badger  arose  and  shook  hands  with 
the  commissioners.  He  folded  his  blanket  around  him, 


A    GOVERNMENT    LINGUIST.  171 

leaving  his  right  arm  free,  and  standing  perfectly  erect, 
said  : 

"  We  are  willing  to  make  a  treaty  with  the  Great 
Father,  but  there  are  some  things  we  want  to  know 
first.  We  have  heard  that  The-rnan-who-cheats  is  to  be 
made  agent  for  us.  We  know  this  man.  He  is  a  very 
bad  man.  If  he  is  to  be  made  our  agent  we  would 
rather  not  make  a  treaty.  We  want  two  or  three  inter 
preters  present,  so  we  will  be  sure  to  understand  and 
not  make  a  mistake." 

"  He  say,"  interpreted  Shonnee,  "  he  heard  Captain 
Jack  be  made  their  agent.  It  make  him  heap  mad. 
He  no  make  treaty.  He  want  five,  six  interpreters 
here.  He  'fraid  you  make  mistake,  not  give  him 
presents  enough,  unless  five,  six  interpreters  here  to 
count  them." 

"  Tell  him,"  said  Mr.  Clark,  "  that  we  can't  waste 
our  time  staying  here,  there  are  no  more  interpreters  to 
be  got.  Tell  him  we  come  here  to  make  a  treaty.  If 
he  won't  make  a  treaty  that  shows  he  is  still  at  war,  and 
the  Great  Father  will  order  the  soldiers  to  kill  them." 

"  He  says,"  interpreted  Shonnee,  "  that  the  Great 
Father  is  angry  with  you,  and  will  send  the  soldiers  to 
kill  every  one  of  you,  unless  you  make  a  treaty  of  peace, 
and  he  says  you  can't  have  any  other  interpreter 
than  me." 

The  Indians  made  no  reply  to  this  whatever,  but  sat 
still  in  stolid  silence. 

"Why  don't  they  talk  ?"  asked  Mr.  Clark. 

"  He  says  if  you  don't  talk  he  will  order  you  sent  to 
the  guard-house,"  said  Shonnee. 


172  A    GOVERNMENT    LINGUIST. 

"  I  don't  believe  he  has  got  the  power  to  do  it,"  said 
Bed  Iron. 

"  He  say  he  dare  you  to  do  anything,"  interpreted 
Shonnee. 

This  brought  consternation  to  the  commission. 
None  of  them  had  thought  of  affairs  taking  such  a  turn 
as  this.  A  hurried  consultation  was  held,  and  it  was 
resolved  to  adjourn  until  afternoon.  The  Indians 
departed,  and  Colonel  Greene  was  sent  for.  A  request 
was  made  for  a  stronger  guard  to  be  stationed  in  the 
council-room  in  the  afternoon,  and  he  was  informed  of 
the  impertinent  language  of  the  Indians. 

Colonel  Greene  was  somewhat  surprised  at  the  state 
ments  made  to  him,  but  complied  with  the  request  for 
a  stronger  guard,  making  a  detail  of  twenty  men,  under 
the  command  of  a  lieutenant,  to  be  stationed  in  the 
council-room. 

In  the  afternoon  the  council  assembled  again.  The 
chiefs  were  astonished  to  see  so  many  armed  soldiers 
present,  and  they  began  to  think  that  the  threat  to  kill 
them  was  to  be  carried  out  immediately.  Red  Iron  was 
the  first  to  speak,  but  he  did  not  speak  until  he  had  said 
a  few  words  in  private  to  Shonnee.  Whatever  he  said, 
it  seemed  to  have  a  powerful  effect  on  Shonnee,  who 
was  so  agitated  that  he  could  hardly  talk  at  all  at  first. 
Colonel  Greene  and  some  of  the  officers  of  the  fort 
were  also  present.  Red  Iron  said  : 

"  I  shake  hands  with  you  because  I  desire  to  be  friendly 
with  you.  I  desire  to  make  peace  with  the  Great  Father, 
to  go  upon  a  reservation,  and  to  learn  to  farm,  to  have 
teachers  sent  to  instruct  the  children,  and  men  to  teach 


A    GOVEKNMENT    LINGUIST.  173 

us  the  ways  of  the  whites.  But  I  made  a  treaty  once 
before  with  some  men  the  Great  Father  sent,  and  the 
presents  promised  were  never  sent.  I  do  not  know 
whether  the  Great  Father  ever  sent  those  men  or  not. 
Now,  before  I  make  a  treaty,  I  want  to  go  to  Washing 
ton  and  see  the  Great  Father  myself.  I  think  that  is 
the  best  way  to  do.  If  you  are  willing  to  let  us  go  to 
Washington,  I  promise  to  make  a  treaty  when  I  get 
there,  if  he  will  give  us  a  piece  of  land,  teachers  for 
the  children,  men  to  show  us  how  to  farm,  and  pay  us 
for  the  damages  clone  by  the  whites,  and  for  the  land 
which  has  been  taken  away  from  us." 

Shonnee  did  his  best  to  interpret  this  correctly,  and 
this  is  how  he  succeeded  : 

"He  say  shake  hands.  He  be  a  friend.  He  want 
to  make  peace  a  heap,  and  live  on  reservation.  He  want 
heap  schools.  He  make  treaty  one  time,  and  Great 
Father  no  keep  it.  He  no  send  presents.  He  not  know 
whether  Great  Father  send  you  or  not.  He  go  to 
Washington  ;  make  treaty  there.  No  make  treaty  here. 
Treaty  here  no  good.  He  want  heap  pay  for  land. 
Great  big  heap,  'cause  whites  kill  'em. " 

This  speech  caused  another  adjournment  of  the 
commission  for  consultation. 

Mr.  Smith,  who  did  not  feel  at  fill  safe  in  the 
country  where  there  were  Captain  Jacks  and  In 
dians,  and  Mr.  Hilliard  and  Mr.  Borden,  who  had 
business  interests  which  imperatively  demanded  their 
immediate  attention,  were  earnest  in  their  advo 
cacy  of  granting  the  request  of  Red  Iron.  Other 
members  of  the  commission  honestly  thought  that 


174  SECRETS    OF    THE    INDIAN    BUEEAU. 

no  treaty,  which  would  be  beneficial  to  the  In 
dians,  could  be  made  while  they  were  under  the 
influence  of  the  military  and  such  men  as  Captain  Jack. 

The  commission  stood  five  to  seven  for  taking 
the  Indians  to  Washington,  Mr.  Hughs  and  Mr.  Clark 
opposing  it ;  and  so  it  was  resolved  that  the  chiefs 
should  go.  It  is  true,  the  commission  had  no  author 
ity  for  taking  such  action ;  but  Indian  commissions  are 
sometimes  not  particular  on  that  point. 

The  next  day  eleven  chiefs,  or  what  they  called 
chiefs,  started.  In  fact  there  were  but  four  chiefs,  the 
other  seven  being  selected  by  Perkins  from  among  the 
men  whom  he  thought  it  would  be  easy  to  manage. 
Badger  was  not  allowed  to  go.  Captain  Jack  found 
out  that  he  was  not  able  to  help  Red  Iron  as  much  as 
he  had  imagined  he  could.  Shonnee  was  taken  along 
as  interpreter  for  one  part  of  them,  and  for  the  others, 
who  spoke  a  different  language,  another  half-breed 
called  Pree-mo. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

SECRETS   OP  THE  INDIAN  BUREAU. 


RRIYINGr  at  Washington  a  council  was  held 
with  the  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs, 
and  speeches  were  made  by  the  four  chiefs. 
The  others  said  nothing,  because  they  did 
not  know  enough  to  say  anything.  Not  one  of  them 
had  ever  made  a  speech,  not  even  in  their  own  councils 


SECRETS    OF    THE    INDIAN    BUREAU.  175 

at  home,  and  when  invited  to  talk  they  simply  said  that 
the  other  chiefs  had  expressed  their  views. 

Red  Iron  gave  a  detailed  account  of  the  war,  but  it 
was  so  badly  interpreted  that  it  was  almost  impossible 
to  understand  any  of  it.  Now  and  then  a  sentence 
seemed  to  have  some  point  to  it  and  that  was  all.  To 
Little  Wolf  had  been  assigned  by  the  Indians  the 
stating  of  what  they  desired  put  in  the  treaty,  but  here 
again  the  interpretation  was  so  bad  that  little  could  be 
got  out  of  it.  That  night,  at  the  Indian  commissioner's 
house,  the  whole  matter  was  talked  over  between  him, 
Mr.  Clark,  Perkins  and  a  Member  of  Congress,  and  a 
treaty  was  drawn  up  in  the  stately  and  formal  language 
such  as  is  used  in  these  documents.  It  provided  for 
the  creation  of  two  reservations,  and  the  following 
officers  on  each : 

1  Agent,  at $1,500 

2  Clerks,  at 1,800 

1  Farmer,  at 1,000 

JL  Blacksmith,  at       ....          900 

1  Carpenter,  at 900 

1  Physician,  at          ....       1,200 

1  Miller  (flour  mill),  at     ...          800 

2  Engineers,  at         ....       1,800 
1  Miller  (saw  mill),  at       ...          600 

1  School  Teacher,  at         ...          500 

2  Common  Laborers,  at    .         .         .          600 

1  Head  Sawyer  for  Saw-Mill,  at        .          750 

2  Assistant  Engineers  (firemen),  afc    .          800 
This  created  twenty-six   new  offices,  most  of  them 

with  pretty  fair  salaries  attached. 


176  SECRETS     OF    THE    INDIAN    BUREAU. 

The  Congressman  remarked  that  he  wanted  it  dis 
tinctly  understood  that  he  was  to  have  the  supplying 
of  sixteen  of  the  places.  There  was  a  young  man 
sitting  in  the  room  who  had  taken  no  part  in  the  con 
versation  up  to  this  time.  He  was  the  private  secretary 
of  Senator  L.  When  the  Representative  made  this  re 
mark  he  arose  and  said  that  such  a  distribution  of  these 
offices  wroiild  never  be  agreed  to  by  the  Senator. 

"  I  don't  see  why  he  should  kick  at  that,"  said  the 
Congressman.  "  I  will  have  the  biggest  part  of  the 
work  to  do,  in  getting  the  appropriations  through  the 
House.  I  have  taken  ten  and  left  six  for  him,  and  I 
think  that  he  ought  to  be  satisfied." 

"•I  have  been  instructed  by  the  Senator,"  said  the 
young  man,  "  to  say  that  he  will  agree  to  taking 
twelve  of  these  appointments  and  give  you  fourteen. 
He  also  wants  the  two  traderships,  not  included  in  this 
list,  who  will  be  appointed  under  the  intercourse  law." 

"  I  won't  agree  to  anything  of  the  kind,"  said  the 
Representative.  "  I'll  bust  up  the  whole  thing  first. 
I'll  do  anything  that  is  fair,  but  this  is  acting  the  reg 
ular  hog.  Besides,  as  I  said  before,  I  have  got  to  work 
the  appropriations  through." 

"  The  Senator  will  likely  have  just  as  much  to  do 
in  getting  the  treaty  confirmed  by  the  Senate,"  replied 
the  young  man. 

The  Representative  declared  he  would  take  nothing 
less  than  he  had  said,  and  the  youug  man  insisted  upon 
all  he  had  demanded,  until  they  came  to  pretty  hot 
words,  and  broke  up  without  making  any  agreement, 
and  both  declaring  they  would  "  bust  up"  the  whole 


SECEETS     OF    THE     INDIAN     BUREAU.  177 

business,  rather  than  recede  one  iota  from  their  de 
mands. 

Perkins  was  disgusted,  and  called  both  the  Senator 
and  Representative  fools,  and  said  they  had  better  take 
what  they  could  get,  than  act  like  lunatics.  The  only 
chance  for  him  was  to  get  the  matter  compromised  in 
some  way. 

The  next  day  he  called  upon  the  Representative,  but 
he  was  still  in  a  very  bad  humor,  and  denounced  Senator 
L.  again  as  a  hog.  He  never  would  do  anything  that 
was  fair.  He  always  wanted  to  grab  everything,  and 
he  had  endured  it  as  just  as  long  as  he  intended  to. 
Then  he  went  to  the  young  man  and  tried  to  get  him 
to  compromise,  but  he  said  the  Senator  would  never 
agree  to  it.  The  fact  was,  the  Senator  was  in  a  tight 
place.  He  had  promised  something  to  several  mem 
bers  of  the  Legislature  who  had  voted  for  him,  and 
some  of  them  he  had  been  unable  to  provide  for  as  yet, 
and  they  were  getting  very  persistent  and  threatened 
some  ugly  revelations  unless  they  got  places  pretty 
soon.  There  were  two  of  them  who  would  not  be 
satisfied  unless  they  got  something  pretty  big  ;  for  these 
two  he  wanted  the  traderships.  He  was  willing  to  let 
the  Representative  have  both  of  the  agents,  but  he 
must  have  the  traderships.  This  information  was  car 
ried  by  Perkins  to  the  Representative.  He  replied: 
"  That  is  just  like  him.  One  of  his  plausible  stories. 
He  knows  that  I  can't  have  either  one  of  the  agents. 
You  are  to  have  one,  and  Clark  got  scared  and  gave  the 
other  one  to  some  lawyer  out  at  the  Bluffs.  You-  see 
there  is  nothing  but  skimmed  milk  for  rne,  and  that 
8* 


178  SECRETS    OF    THE    INDIAN    BUREAU. 

old  sharper  is  to  take  all  of  the  cream.  I'll  see  him 
damned  first.  Tell  him  that." 

Perkins  went  to  see  Mr.  Clark,  and  told  him  what 
the  Representative  said. 

"  Well,  it's  your  fault,"  said  Mr.  Clark.  "  I  would 
never  have  given  that  agency  to  Wilmot  if  it  had  not 
been  for  you." 

"  I  didn't  tell  you  to  give  him  the  agency,  I  only 
said  I  thought  we  should  have  to  give  him  something, 
and  you  went  off  and  gave  him  the  best  thing  we  had. 
But  it  is  no  use  crying  over  spilt  milk.  This  thing 
has  got  to  be  fixed  up  somehow." 

"What  are  you  going  to  do .?" 

"  They'll  divide  the  patronage  up  somehow,  or  I'll 
make  it  so  hot  for  both  of  them  that  they'll  not  want 
to  stay  in  Washington  long." 

Perkins  waited  seven  or  eight  days  for  the  Senator 
and  Representative  to  come  to  some  agreement,  but 
they  both  were  just  as  obstinate  as  ever.  Then  he 
called  on  the  private  secretary  and  said : 

"  One  tradership  and  eleven  other  places  must  be 
agreed  upon  for  the  Senator  before  sundown  to-night, 
or  the  whole  transaction  with  the  member  from  Lincoln 
County,  the  amount  of  money  paid,  the  place  where 
the  agreement  was  made,  the  bank  on  which  the  check 
was  drawn,  and  every  detail  will  be  published  to-morrow 
in  the  New  York  papers.  I  don't  intend  to  fool 
around  here  any  longer.  I  mean  business,  and  you  can 
so  inform  the  Senator." 

Then  he  went  up  to  the  House  and  sent  in  his  card 


SECKETS    OF    THE    INDIAN    BUREAU.  179 

to  the  Representative,  who  came  out  immediately,  and 
said  : 

"  This  matter  has  come  to  a  head  at  last.  The 
Senator  will  send  a  proposition  before  night  to  take 
one  trader  and  eleven  other  places,  and  you  had  better 
agree  to  do  it." 

"That's  all  right,  I'll  do  it.  You  see,  I  had  prom 
ised  a  tradership  and  I  was  bound  to  have  it.  That's 
what  I  made  the  fight  for." 

Sure  enough,  as  Perkins  had  said,  the  private 
secretary  called  upon  the  Representative  before  sun 
down  and  the  "  patronage  "  was  satisfactorily  divided. 

The  next  evening  another  meeting  was  held  at  the 
residence  of  the  Indian  commission,  the  same  parties 
being  present,  and  the  details  of  the  affair  were  gone 
into. 

All  the  officers  appointed  under  the  treaty  were  to 
have  residences  built  for  them  out  of  the  money  appro 
priated  for  the  Indians.  The  agent's  house  was  to  cost 
three  thousand  dollars,  and  those  of  the  other  officers 
eighteen  hundred  each,  and  to  be  built  under  the 
direction  of  the  agent.  As  they  were  to  be  the  same 
on  both  reservations  the  contracts  were  to  be  divided 
equally  between  the  two  parties.  A  commission  was  to 
be  appointed  to  locate  the  reservations  and  designate 
their  boundaries.  The  private  secretary  insisted  that 
these  persons  should  be  selected  by  the  Senator,  for,  he 
said,  it  was  only  a  temporary  thing,  not  much  money 
in  it,  and  the  Senator  had  several  very  respectable  men 
who  had  rendered  him  some  service  in  primary  elections, 
county  conventions  or  the  legislature,  who  would  feel  it 


180  SECRETS     OF    THE    INDIAN    BUEEATJ, 

to  be  a  compliment  to  be  put  on  such  a  commission. 
The  Representative  said  he  could  have  them. 

Then  the  all-important  point  was  reached — how 
much  should  the  annuities  be?  Perkins  said  that 
nothing  less  than  a  hundred  thousand  dollars  a  year  for 
five  years,  to  be  gradually  diminished  afterward, 
would  do. 

"  Now,  you  see,"  said  the  Representative,  "  that  I 
have  to  furnish  the  money  for  the  whole  business,  as  I 
said  in  the  first  place.  I  am  on  the  Indian  Committee, 
it  is  true,  but  there  are  a  good  many  more  on  it,  and 
they  all  have  something  they  want.  What  is  in  the 
Indian  Appropriation  Bill  now  runs  it  up  to  a  good 
many  millions." 

4  "A  good  many  millions  !  Why,  this  is  only  two 
hundred  thousand,  a  mere  bagatelle.  Then  if  the 
Senate  confirms  the  treaty,  the  appropriations  have  got 
to  be  made  anyhow.  The  tiling  is  to  get  the  treaty 
confirmed." 

"  Never  mind,"  said  Mr.  Clark,  "  we'll  need  all  the 
help  we  can  get  anyhow.  Now,  let  us  go  at  the  text  of 
the  treaty." 

After  working  at  it  for  some  time  they  all  got 
tired,  and  it  was  agreed  that  the  private  secretary  and 
Perkins  should  both  draw  up  a  treaty  and  submit  it  to 
another  meeting,  and  then  they  adjourned. 

Three  days  afterward  the  drafts  were  completed 
and  submitted.  After  both  were  read,  Perkins's  copy 
was  adopted,  with  a  few  slight  alterations.  It  provided 
for  the  cession  of  all  right,  title  and  interest  in  any 
or  all  lands  held  by  the  Indians  to  the  United  States, 


OFFICIAL    INFORMATION.  181 

except  two  specified  tracts  which  were  reserved  for 
their  "  use  and  occupancy."  The  title  granted  by  the 
Indians  to  the  United  States  was  a  full  and  entire  re- 
linqnishment  and  quit-claim  of  all  their  interest  in  it 
forever.  The  title  granted  by  it  to  the  Indians  was  a 
fraud,  no  title  at  all,  in  fact,  being  a  sort  of  tenancy  at 
will,  for  use  and  occupancy.  Then  it  specified  in 
separate  items  the  amounts  to  be  appropriated  by  the 
Government,  so  much  per  annum  for  agent,  farmer, 
physician,  etc.,  through  the  list  of  appointees.  This  left 
eighty-six  thousand  nine  hundred  dollars  to  be  spent 
annually  for  the  benefit  of  the  Indians,  in  such  way  as 
the  secretary  of  the  interior  might  direct.  The  annui 
ties  were  to  run  for  twenty  years  and  be  gradually  re 
duced  after  the  first  five  years.  Another  copy  like 
this  was  made  for  the  other  tribe,  making  only  such 
alterations  as  were  necessary  in  regard  to  names  and  the 
boundaries  of  their  reservations.  In  this  way  did  Per 
kins  prepare  Red  Iron's  treaty  for  him. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

OFFICIAL  INFORMATION. 

TIRING-  all  these  weary  days  the  Indians  had 
been  lodged  at  a  miserable  hotel,  the  whole 
eleven   in  one  room.      Their  meals  were 
brought  to  them    on  plates,  and  a  tin-cup 
full  of  coffee  was   furnished  to  each  one.     The  hotel- 


182  OFFICIAL    INFOEMATION. 

keeper  charged  full  rates,  two  dollars  a  day,  for  each 
of  them,  it  being  a  sort  of  political  hotel-keeping.  The 
Indians,  being  accustomed  to  live  in  the  open  air,  which 
was  always  pure  and  light  on  the  elevated  plains  where 
they  had  been  born,  soon  began  to  feel  unwell  from 
breathing  the  heavy  air  of  the  sea  level,  vitiated  as  it 
was  in  the  unventilated  room  where  they  were  confined 
for  the  greater  part  of  each  day. 

Poor  old  Eed  Iron  wondered  and  wondered,  what 
was  the  reason  why  the  business  could  not  be  finished, 
and  they  allowed  to  return  home ;  and  every  day  he 
made  inquiry  of  the  man  who  had  been  detailed  by 
the  Indian  Bureau  to  take  charge  of  them.  He  was 
generally  told  that  the  Great  Father  had  so  much  to 
attend  to  that  he  could  not  get  time,  but  in  a  day  or 
two  he  would  see  them. 

Every  day  they  were  taken  out  for  a  walk,  and  were 
shown  over  the  Capitol,  the  Treasury  and  other  places 
which  it  was  deemed  desirable  that  they  should  see,  in 
order  to  duly  impress  them  with  the  greatness  and 
power  of  the  Great  Father,  and  incline  them  to  subjec 
tion  to  the  orders  of  his  agents.  Some  of  these  Indians 
had  never  seen  a  house  larger  than  a  sutlers  cabin, 
which,  before  they  started  on  this  journey,  they  re 
garded  as  the  acme  of  wealth.  Now  they  were  dazed 
and  bewildered.  Everything  was  new  to  them,  from 
the  paved  streets  to  the  dome  of  the  Capitol.  As  they 
walked  along  the  streets,  looking  straight  ahead,  one 
who  did  not  understand  Indian  character  would  have 
supposed  that  they  did  not  notice  anything,  but  they 
saw  everything.  lied  Iron  stood  by  the  open  window 


OFFICIAL    INFORMATION.  183 

of  the  hotel  dining-room.  To  all  appearance  he  was 
intensely  interested  in  something  far  down  the  street. 
In  the  few  minutes  while  he  stood  there  he  saw  how 
the  white  people  ate,  cups,  saucers,  knives,  forks,  nap 
kins,  salt-spoons,  butter-knives,  nut-crackers,  all  were 
photographed  on  his  mind  ;  and  when,  a  few  days  after 
ward,  Mr.  Borden,  who  was  greatly  interested  in  him, 
took  him  to  dine,  he  was  astonished  to  see  him  seat 
himself  at  the  table  and  eat  with  as  much  grace  as  if 
he  had  been  trained  in  the  most  polite  society. 

Every  day  or  two,  while  the  Indians  were  waiting, 
the  newspapers  announced  that  they  were  still  there, 
and  the  commission  were  finding  great  difficulty  in 
getting  them  to  agree  to  a  treaty  which  would  be  of 
any  benefit  to  them.  Don't  let  the  reader  blame  the 
newspaper  correspondents  for  publishing  such  state 
ments.  The  correspondent  or  reporter  gets  his  infor 
mation  from  "  official "  sources.  He  goes  to  the  heads 
of  departments  and  bureaus  for  it.  If  he  should  refuse 
to  publish  what  they  give  him,  his  mission  would  end, 
his  occupation  would  be  gone,  for  they  would  refuse  to 
give  him  any  information,  and  his  journal  would  be 
left  without  its  Washington  news.  If  a  correspondent 
was  at  war  with  the  head  of  a  department  or  bureau,  he 
could  get  no  news  at  all,  for  from  these  most  of  it 
comes. 

Toward  the  last  all  the  Indians  began  to  feel  un 
well.  When  the  fact  was  announced  in  the  papers,  the 
comment  was  made  that  the  Indian  could  not  live  af 
ter  the  manner  of  civilized  lift  and  in  consequence 


184  OFFICIAL    INFORMATION . 

must  soon  fade  from  the  face  of  the  earth.     This  also 
was  "  official  information." 

When  Perkins  had  got  the  "  patronage  "  arranged 
and  the  treaties  drawn  up,  Mr.  Clark  called  the  com 
mission  together.  Mr.  Borden  and  Mr.  Hilliard  gave 
the  document  the  closest  scrutiny.  The  more  they  had 
seen  of  Red  Iron  the  better  they  liked  him,  and  they 
were  determined  to  make  the  best  arrangement  for  him 
they  could.  These  men  were  both  tender-hearted,  hon 
est,  Christian  gentlemen,  and  greatly  desired  to  do  jus 
tice  to  the  Indians.  They  could  find  nothing  to  criti 
cise  in  the  treaties,  and  gave  Mr.  Clark,  whom  they  sup 
posed  had  drawn  them,  great  praise  for  the  labor  he 
had  bestowed  upon  them. 

At  last  Red  Iron  and  the  other  chiefs  were  sum 
moned  before  them.  Shonnee  and  Free-mo,  whose 
real  name  among  the  Indians  was  Tangled  Hair,  were 
called  upon  to  interpret  the  treaties  to  them.  Neither 
of  the  interpreters  could  read  or  write,  and  the  treaties 
were  written  in  the  stately  language  which  is  used  in 
documents  of  this  kind  which  are  drawn  up  between 
enlightened  and  civilized  nations,  Perkins  having 
copied  most  of  the  language  from  former  treaties  which 
were  on  file  in  Washington.  They  abounded  in  legal 
terms,  which  would  not  be  understood  by  the  average 
civilized  citizen.  Shonnee  and  Pree-mo,  who  only  knew 
a  few  English  words,  and  they  of  the  commonest  and 
simplest  kind,  did  not  understand  one  word  in  ten. 
Nevertheless,  as  Mr.  Clark  read  it  to  them  sentence  by 
sentence,  they  instantly  rattled  off  something  in  the  In 
dian  language.  When  they  were  through,  the  chiefs 


OFFICIAL    INFORMATION.  185 

had  no  idea  of  its  provisions.  The  interpreters  had 
told  them,  in  substance,  that  they  were  to  have  a  big 
piece  of  land,  one  part  on  the  Arickoree  and  the  other 
on  the  Baha  Taha,  which  was  to  be  theirs  forever,  and 
that  every  year  the  Great  Father  would  send  them  im 
mense  sums  of  money. 

lied  Iron  inquired  if  they  were  to  have  teachers  and 
missionaries  sent  to  them,  and  several  other  questions, 
which  Mr.  Clark  answered.  Then  the  papers  were  pre 
sented  for  signature,  but  the  chiefs  refused  to  sign. 
Red  Iron  said  they  would  think  over  it,  and  come  again 
the  next  day  ;  and  they  retired  to  their  room  in  the  ho 
tel.  There  they  had  a  long  discussion.  They  tried  to 
get  some  idea  from  Shonnee  and  Pree-mo  of  the  amount 
of  money  they  were  to  get,  the  number  of  blankets,  how 
much  rations ;  wli ether  they  had  to  stay  on  the  reserva 
tion  all  the  time  ;  if  they  could  go  and  visit  other  tribes 
if  they  wanted  to  ;  if  they  were  to  be  allowed  to  hunt 
any ;  if  their  horses  and  arms  were  to  be  given  back  to 
them,  and  a  hundred  other  things  of  like  nature,  all  of 
which  Shonnee  answered  in  the  manner  which  he  knew 
the  chiefs  wanted  the  treaty  to  state.  In  fact  he  as 
sured  them  that  everything  they  wanted  was  stipulated 
in  the  treaty. 

Perkins  was  somewhat  frightened  when  he  learned 
that  the  chiefs  had  refused  to  sign  the  treaty,  and  that 
afternoon  he,  Mr.  Clark,  and  the  Representative  had  a 
consultation  over  the  matter  in  one  of  the  committee- 
rooms  of  the  Capitol.  It  was  concluded  that  the  best 
thing  to  be  done  was  to  send  them  some  presents.  So 
a  purse  of  five  hundred  dollars  was  made  up,  and  a  lot 


186  WHAT     COULD    IT    MEAN? 

of  nice  blankets,  beads,  tomakawks,  and  such  other 
things  as  they  thought  the  Indians  would  like  was  sent 
to  them.  If  Perkins  had  only  known  it,  this  was 
money  thrown  away,  for  Shonnee  had  satisfied  them  on 
every  point  before,  and  they  had  already  agreed  to  sign 
the  treaties.  The  next  day  the  treaties  were  signed  and 
the  Indians  hustled  off  home.  In  due  time  the  Senate 
confirmed  them,  and  the  appropriations  were  made. 

Mr.  Clark  prepared  a  formal  report  of  the  work  of 
the  Peace  Commission,  dilating  on  its  successful  issue, 
portions  of  which  were  copied  in  all  the  religious 
weeklies  and  in  most  of  the  missionary  journals.  He 
did  not  say,  however,  that  the  whole  thing  was  con 
ceived  in  fraud  and  born  in  iniquity. 


CHAPTER    XXIY. 

WHAT  COULD   IT  MEAN? 

APTAI1ST  JACK  got  tired  staying  around 
the  fort  during  Red  Iron's  absence,  con 
cluded  to  go  up  the  country,  and  he  got 
ready  his  outfit  and  started.  While  on  the 
trail  he  met  several  trains  hauling  supplies  to  the  fort. 
The  Indians  were  still  furnishing  a  rich  harvest  for  the 
contractors. 

Arriving   at   Council    Bluffs,   he  stopped    at    the 
Causeland  House,  and  went  over  to  see  Mr.  Parkman 


WHAT    COULD     IT    MEAN?  187 

and  his  wife.  Mrs.  Parkman  told  him  that  they  had 
been  appointed  missionaries  to  Red  Iron's  tribe,  and  as 
soon  as  they  were  located  on  their  new  reserve  they 
should  go  to  live  with  the  Indians. 

Jennie  asked  him  if  he  knew  who  was  to  be  Red 
Iron's  agent,  and  he  said  he  did  not. 

"  What  will  you  give  to  know  ?"  she  asked. 

"  I'll  give  you  a  bran  new  pair  of  moccasins." 

"  But  I  don't  wear  moccasins." 

"  I'll  give  you  an  Arapahoe  blanket." 

"  Oh,  Jaok !  I  wouldn't  take  that.  They  cost  too 
much  money." 

(An  Arapahoe  blanket  is  worth  a  hundred  dollars. 
They  are  perfectly  impervious  to  water,  will  last  a  life 
time,  and  are  made  only  by  the  Arapahoe  Indians.) 

"  What  do  you  want  me  to  give  ?"  asked  Jack. 

"  I  want  you  to  make  me  a  promise  to  do  some 
thing." 

"What  is  it?" 

"  I  won't  tell  you  until  you  promise." 

"  Well,  I  won't  promise  until  you  tell  me." 

"  Now,  Jack,  I  thought  you  would." 

"You  might  want  me  to  do  something  awful." 

"  You  know  I  wouldn't.  It's  two  things.  One  is 
not  to  do  something,  and  the  other  is  to  do  something." 

"  Well,  if  it  is  a  thing  I  oughten  to  do,  and  t'other 
a  thing  I  oughter  do,  I'll  promise." 

"  I'll  pledge  you  my  word  to  that." 

"  I'll  promise,  then." 

"  On  your  word  of  honor,  Jack." 

"  Yes,  on  honor." 


188  WHAT    COULD     IT    MEAN  ? 

"  Then,  when  I  tell  you  the  name  of  Ked  Iron's 
agent  you  are  to  get  acquainted  with  him." 

"  What  a  queer  notion,"  said  J  ack. 

"  Will  you  promise  ?" 

"  Yes,  I'll  hunt  him  up  if  he  lives  anywhere  in 
reach." 

"  Now,  the  other  thing,  the  thing  you  ought  not  to 
do." 

"  Tell  me  what  it  is." 

"  You  are  not  to  shoot  Perkins.  Mrs.  Parkman  told 
me  what  you  meant  by  having  an  interview  with 
Perkins." 

"Look  a  here,  now,"  said  Jack,  "that  ain't  fair. 
Perkins  ought  to  be  killed.  If  ever  a  man  lived  who 
deserved  killing,  it's  that  Perkins.  I  won't  make  no 
such  promise." 

"  Oh,  Jack,"  said   Jennie,  and  she  began  to  cry. 

"  What  are  you  so  tender  about  Perkins  for?  Are 
you  in  love  with  him  ?" 

"No,  I  ain't,"  said  Jennie,  "I  hate  him,"  and  she 
stamped  her  foot. 

"  Well,  now,  if  women  ain't  the  queerest  creatures 
on  earth." 

"  Please  do  promise  me,  Jack.  Now,  won't  you  ? 
Please  do,"  and  Jennie  looked  up  at  him  in  a  most 
pleading  way  through  her  tears. 

"  I  wish  I  had  of  sent  him  to  kingdom  come  the 
day  he  was  trying  to  make  a  target  of  me  at  the 
Canseland  House." 

"  Oh  !  how  I  wish  you  had,"  said  Jennie. 

"  Well,  if  this  don't  beat  all  creation,"  said  Jack. 


WHAT     COULD     IT    MEAN?  189 

"  Please  do  promise  me,  Jack.  I  never  asked  you 
to  promise  me  anything  before  and  I  will  never  ask 
you  again." 

"  Tell  me  why  you  want  me  to  promise." 

"  Oh !  I  can't.  When  father  comes  he  will  tell 
you.  Do  promise  me." 

"  Is  he  plotting  any  deviltry  agin  you  ?"  asked  Jack, 
and  his  eyes  began  to  gleam. 

«  No." 

"  What  under  heavens  is  it,  then  ?" 

"I  can't  tell  you,  Jack.  If  I  could  I  would.  I 
don't  know  much  about  it,  only  I  know  it  would  be 
better  for  us  all  if  you  should  kill  me  than  if  you  killed 
Perkins." 

Tears  were  streaming  down  Jennie's  face  and  her 
voice  was  choked  with  sobs.  They  sat  there  in  silence 
for  a  few  minutes.  Then  Jennie  took  her  handkerchief 
down.  Her  face  was  as  white  as  snow.  The  tears 
were  all  dried  up.  She  tried  twice  before  she  could 
speak.  Then  she  said,  in  such  a  tone  as  Jack  had  never 
heard  before : 

"Will  you  promise?" 

"I  will,"  said  Jack. 

The  next  moment  Jennie  lay  in  a  fainting-fit  on  the 
floor.  Jack  sprang  to  the  door  and  called  Mrs.  Park- 
man,  who  was  out  in  the  yard  talking  to  the  next-door 
neighbor,  and  the  two  soon  brought  her  back  to 
consciousness. 

Jack  told  Mrs.  Parkman  what  had  happened,  and 
asked  her  what  it  meant. 

"  I  can't  imagine,"  said  Mrs.  Parkman.     "  All  I 


190  WHAT    COULD    IT    MEAN? 

know  is,  that  she  lias  received  several  letters  lately, 
which  seemed  to  excite  her  very  much,  and  as  soon  as 
she  reads  them,  she  puts  them  in  the  stove  and  burns 
them  up." 

Jack  walked  off  up-town,  and  as  he  passed  the  Em 
pire  House  he  glanced  in  at  a  window,  and  there  sat 
Perkins.  He  gritted  his  teeth  as  he  looked  at  him. 
He  said  nothing,  however,  and  walked  on.  When  he 
got  to  the  Causeland  House,  he  sat  down  and  tried  to 
think  what  had  made  Jennie  so  anxious  about  the  per 
sonal  safety  of  Perkins.  Did  she  know  that  he  had  come 
back  ?  Were  the  letters  which  she  had  received  from 
him?  What  possible  hold  could  Perkins  have  upon 
her  ?  Jack  could  not  decide.  All  at  once,  he  happened 
to  think  Jennie  had  not  told  him  who  Hed  Iron's  agent 
was  to  be.  How  could  she  know,  anyhow  ?  Jack 
went  right  back  to  Mr.  Parkman's. 

Jennie  was  reclining  on  her  little  cot  in  the  small 
room. 

"  See  here,"  said  he,  "  you  did  not  tell  me  who  that 
man  was  I  was  to  get  acquainted  with." 

"  Oh,  it's  Mr.  Wilmot." 

"  How  did  you  find  out  ?" 

"  Jack,  you  will  never  tell  who  told  you,  will  you  $" 
This  was  said  with  so  much  earnestness  that  it  fairly 
startled  Jack.  •**, 

"  Miss  Walker,"  said  he,  with  great  seriousness  of 
tone,  "  I  don't  like  the  way  you  talk  and  act  about 
things.  Now,  you  are  young,  and  have  110  relations 
here  to  advise  you  or  take  care  of  you.  I  advise  you  to 
tell  Mrs.  Parkman  all  about  this  business." 


WHAT     COULD     IT     MEAN?  191 

"  I  can't  tell  anybody,"  said  Jennie.  "  Mrs.  Park- 
man  says  she  has  known  you  for  years,  and  that  you 
could  be  trusted,  and  I  was  going  to  write  a  letter  to 
you,  but  you  came  walking  in.  I  think  it  was  provi 
dential.  I  want  you  to  do  two  or  three  little  things  for 
me.  They  are  all  right  and  proper,  and  you  may  do 
much  good  that  way.  By  and  by,  everything  can 
be  explained.  Now  don't  ask  me  to  tell,  because  I 
can't.  You  promised  me  you  would  get  acquainted 
with  Mr.  Wilmot.  I  know  you  will  keep  your  promise. 
I  want  you  to  let  him  know  that  you  know  he  is  to  be 
appointed  agent,  and  then  I  want  you  to  say  two  or 
three  things  to  him,  which  I  will  tell  you." 

Jack  was  worse  nonplussed  than  before.  He  said 
nothing  more,  and  went  off  to  find  Wilmot.  He  found 
that  gentleman  sitting  in  his  office.  These  two  men 
had  often  heard  of  each  other  but  had  never  met  be 
fore.  It  was  not  long  until  they  were  in  an  earnest 
discussion.  Wibnot  was  surprised  at  Jack's  conversa 
tion.  Sometimes  he  used  as  elegant  and  well-chosen 
language  as  any  man  he  had  ever  conversed  with,  and 
again,  he  talked  the  regular  jargon  of  the  frontier. 

These  two  men  were  as  unlike  each  other  in  every 
outward  appearance  as  they  well  could  be,  but  from 
that  hour  until  death  they  were  ever  the  closet  friends. 

A  day  or  two  afterward  Jack  intimated  to  Mr.  Wil 
mot  that  he  understood  he  was  to  Red  Iron's  agent. 

"  Yes,"  said  he,  "  I  have  been  pressed  to  take  the 
place  and  have  agreed  to  accept  it  if  it  is  offered  to 


me." 


Then  he  went  on  to  state  what  he  intended  to  try 


192  WHAT    COULD     IT    MEAN  ? 

to  do  for  the  Indians.  He  would  try  to  get  them  to 
form  a  regular  government,  with  courts  and  juries  to 
settle  every  dispute  which  might  arise.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Parkman  were  to  go  as  missionaries  and  he  would  aid 
them  in  their  work  all  he  could.  He  would  try  to  have 
all  the  children  go  to  school,  and  believed  that  in  a  few 
years  he  would  have  a  self-supporting  and  intelligent 
community. 

Jack  called  on  Jennie  and  told  her  of  his  conversa 
tion  with  Wilmot. 

"Now,"  said  Jennie,  "I  want  you  to  go  to  Mr. 
Wilmot  and  beg  of  him  not  to  accept  that  appoint 
ment." 

"  How  could  I  do  such  a  thing  ?  I  think  "Wilmot  a 
splendid  man  for  agent.  1  had  never  hoped  to  get  as 
good  a  man.  No,  no,  that  would  not  be  right  to  go 
back  on  my  old  friend  Red  Iron." 

"Jack,"  said  Jennie,  "  if  Mr.  Wilmot  goes  out  there 
as  agent  he  will  be  ruined.  I  know  he  will  never  do 
what  is  expected  of  him.  There  now,  I  didn't  mean 
to  say  that.  You  won't  ever  tell  that  I  said  it,  will 
you?" 

Light  began  to  break  into  Jack's-  mind. 

"  I  wish  you  would  tell  me  all  about  this  business. 
What  sort  of  hold  has  that  Perkins  got  on  you  ?  He's 
plotting  some  deviltry,  I  know.  What  interest  have 
you  got  in  Wilmot  ?" 

Jennie  blushed  scarlet.  "  I  think  Mr.  Wilmot  is  a 
very  fine  man.  If  he  stays  here  and  practices  law  he 
will  go  to  Congress  sometime." 


DIVIDING    THE     SPOILS.  193 

Jack  scratched  his  head  and  pulled  his  mustache. 
More  light  was  breaking  in. 

"  You'd  better  tell  me  or  Mrs.  Parkman  all  about 
it,"  said  he. 

"  I  wish  I  could,"  said  Jennie. 

The  next  day  Jack  went  up  to  Wilmot's  office.  The 
door  was  closed  and  locked,  and  on  it  was  a  card.  It 
said,  "  Absent  from  the  city.  Will  not  return  for  two 
weeks,"  and  underneath  was  the  date. 


CHAPTEK  XXY. 

DIVIDING  THE   SPOILS. 

ACK  made  inquiry  all  over  town  about  Wil- 
mot.  All  that  he  could  learn  was  that  he 
had  hired  a  team  at  the  livery  stable,  telling 
the  man  that  he  should  be  absent  ten  or 
twelve  days,  and  then  went  across  the  river,  and 
started  toward  the  northwest.  Another  thing  that 
made  his  conduct  more  strange  was,  that  it  was  the 
week  for  the  session  of  the  circuit  court  and  court  week 
was  the  lawyers'  harvest.  Wilmot  had  gone  to  an 
other  lawyer,  told  him  that  he  was  unexpectedly 
called  away,  and  turned  all  his  cases  over  to  him. 

When   the   grand   jury  were   impaneled,   Perkins 

was  the  first  man  who  appeared  before  them.     After 

him  four  or  five   other  villainous-looking  men,  who 

were  also  stopping  at  the  Empire  House,  were  sent  for. 

9 


194  DIVIDING    THE     SPOILS. 

The  jury  was  in  session  two  days,  and  when  they  had  pre 
sented  all  their  indictments  were  discharged.  Perkins 
left  town  a  few  hours  afterward.  According  to  the 
rule  of  all  courts,  the  indictments  were  kept  secret 
until  the  warrants  were  served  and  the  persons  accused 
were  in  the  hands  of  the  officers  of  the  court. 

The  district  attorney,  who  was  a  first-class  shyster, 
put  on  a  very  wise  and  mysterious  look,  but  said  noth 
ing.  A  thousand  guesses  were  made  by  the  attorneys 
and  court  attendants  concerning  what  Perkins  was  up 
to  now,  but  none  of  them  came  anywhere  near  the 
truth. 

One  morning,  not  long  after  court  adjourned,  Wil- 
mot  drove  into  town.  The  team  was  jaded  and  worn, 
and  had  evidently  been  driven  all  night.  He  ate  a 
hurried  breakfast,  went  to  his  office,  wrote  a  letter,  car 
ried  it  to  the  post-office,  and  then  retired  to  his  room 
and  was  not  seen  until  the  next  day.  Jack  called  upon 
him  early  in  the  forenoon. 

"  I  was  never  so  glad  to  see  a  man  in  my  life,"  said 
Wilmot,  "  as  I  am  to  see  you." 

"  I'm  glad  to  see  you  too,  been  waiting  for  you  two 
weeks." 

"  Do  you  know,"  said  Wilmot,  "  that  that  commission 
of  eminent  philanthropists  who  were  out  here  have  been 
planning  the  worst  piece  of  fraud  and  swindling  ever 
attempted  in  this  country  ?" 

"They  were  a  set  of  cowards  and  thieves,"  said 
Jack.  "  Them's  the  chaps  that  had  me  arrested." 

"  Had  you  arrested !  What  did  they  arrest  you 
for?" 


DIVIDING    THE     SPOILS.  195 

"  I  was  trying  to  shoot  a  lying  half-breed." 

Wilmot  laughed  and  said  :  "  Well,  why  didn't  you 
shoot  him  ?" 

"  'Cause  old  Red  Iron  knocked  my  hand  up,  and 
the  pill  that  was  intended  for  him  went  into  the 
ceiling." 

Wilmot  then  explained  to  Jack  the  cause  of  his 
absence.  What  occurred  the  afternoon  before  he  left 
and  for  the  next  few  days  was  as  follows : 

Wilmot  was  sitting  in  his  office  when  a  gentleman 
came  in.  He  was  well  dressed,  and  had  a  sharp  business 
look  about  him.  He  handed  Wilmot  the  following 
letter,  which  was  dated  at  Washington. 

"  MY  DEAE  ME.  WILMOT  : 

"  This  letter  will  be  handed  to  you  by  Hon.  A. 
S.  Parker,  who  will  be  appointed  trader  at  the  agency 
which  it  has  been  agreed  shall  be  assigned  to  you.  As 
you  will  be  associated  together  for  some  time  to  come 
he  desired  to  make  your  acquaintance  as  soon  as 
possible,  and  I  have  taken  the  liberty  of  sending  him 
directlv  to  you.  Truly  yours, 

«H.  O.  CLAEK." 

After  reading  the  letter  Wilmot  extended  his  hand 
and  said  he  was  very  glad  to  meet  him,  and  asked : 

"  Have  you  come  direct  from  Washington  ?" 

"  Yes,  I  stayed  until  the  treaties  were  confirmed  and 
things  were  made  safe,  then  I  started." 

"  Do  they  intend  to  move  the  Indians  to  the  new 
reservations  immediately  ?" 


196  DIVIDING    THE    SPOILS. 

"  Yes,  we  intend  to  get  up  there  and  fixed  up  before 
winter  sets  in." 

"How  soon  will  I  get  my  appointment,"  asked 
Wilmot. 

"  It  will  be  along  in  the  course  of  a  month.  That 
is  all  right.  Everything  is  fixed." 

A  pause  ensued  for  a  minute  or  two,  and  then 
Parker  said : 

"  Clark  was  very  anxious  for  me  to  see  you  and  get 
things  amicably  arranged.  Of  course  you  are  not  going 
out  there  to  live  among  the  Indians,  cut  off  from  all 
the  benefits  of  society  and  the  comforts  of  civilized 
life,  for  fifteen  hundred  dollars  a  year.  It  is  about  as 
bad  as  going  to  the  penitentiary.  So  we  might  as  well 
arrange  beforehand  how  we  are  to  divide,  and  there 
won't  be  any  trouble  afterward.  The  annual  appro 
priation  is  a  hundred  thousand.  After  the  salaries  are 
all  paid  there  will  be  eighty-six  thousand  nine  hundred 
dollars  left.  The  first  year  we  will  be  forced  to  spend 
a  good  deal,  for  residences  for  the  agent  and  employees 
will  have  to  be  built.  That  will  only  leave  forty-two 
thousand  three  hundred  dollars  to  feed  the  Indians  and 
divide  up.  It  is  altogether  too  small,  but  it  can't  be 
helped,  unless  Dan  (Dan  was  the  Congressman)  gets 
through  the  additional  appropriation  for  the  construc 
tion  of  the  agency  buildings — but  that's  not  certain  and 
we  must  not  count  on  it.  Now,  what's  your  offer  ? 
How  much  do  you  want  ?  You  see  how  it  is,  we've  all 
got  to  be  satisfied  with  small  slices  the  first  year." 

If  that  speech  had  been  made  to  Jack  he  would 
have  knocked  the  man  down  before  he  got  half-way 


DIVIDING    THE     SPOILS.  197 

through  ;  but  Wilmot,  while  he  was  just  as  indignant 
as  Jack  would  have  been,  simply  leaned  his  head  upon 
his  hand  as  if  in  deep  thought,  and  in  a  minute  or  two 
said : 

"  This  matter  has  not  turned  out  at  all  as  I  ex 
pected." 

"  It  is  rather  exasperating,"  said  Parker ;  "  but  next 
year  we  will  have  eighty-six  thousand  to  divide  up  in 
stead  of  forty-two  thousand.  We  might  have  saved 
five  or  six  thousand  out  of  the  construction  of  the 
agency  buildings,  but  the  Senator  has  laid  his  hands  on 
that.  It  is  just  as  Dan  says,  he's  a  regular  hog." 

"  I'll  have  to  take  this  matter  into  consideration," 
said  Wilmot.  "  I'm  not  going  to  leave  a  good  law 
practice  to  go  out  there  for  nothing." 

"  Well,  it  will  be  better  next  year." 

"  Who  knows  what  will  happen  before  next  year  ?" 

"  Well,  what's  your  offer  ?  How  much  do  you 
want  ?" 

"  What  do  you  propose  to  give  ?" 

"  Will  five  thousand  dollars  do  ?" 

"  No." 

"  Will  seven  thousand  fiVe  hundred  ?" 

"No." 

"  I  don't  see  how  we  can  come  to  any  agreement. 
Clark  ought  to  have  fixed  this  himself." 

"  How  do  you  propose  to  divide  the  rest  ?" 

"  Well,  as  I  have  to  put  in  a  stock  of  goods,  invest 
a  good  deal  of  ready  money,  and  none  of  the  rest  are  to 
put  in  any  money  or  run  any  risk,  I  ought  to  have  at 
least  fifteen  thousand.  The  Senator  is  to  have  five 


198  DIVIDING    THE    SPOILS. 

thousand,  and  Dan  three  thousand.  That  leaves  eleven 
thousand  eight  hundred  dollars  for  rations,  and  we  can 
pull  them  through  somehow  on  that.  You  see  it  is  ut 
terly  impossible  to  make  your  share  more  than  seven 
thousand  five  hundred." 

"  As  I  said  before,"  remarked  Wilmot,  "  things 
have  taken  a  turn  I  had  not  thought  of.  I  will  have 
to  take  the  matter  under  consideration.  If  you  will 
call  at  my  office  early  to-morrow  morning,  I  will  be  able 
to  say  what  I  will  do." 

After  Parker  left,  "Wilmot  put  his  feet  up  on  the 
table,  leaned  back  in  his  chair  and  soliloquized.  "  Who 
would  ever  have  imagined  this  ?  A  Peace  Commis 
sion,  too !  What  ever  made  them  offer  me  the 
place  F 

His  thoughts  for  some  time  were  confused,  and  led 
to  no  solution.  Finally  he  said  to  himself  : 

"  I  see  how  it  was.  The  gentlemen  on  that  com 
mission  were  honest,  good  Christian  men,  with  one  ex 
ception,  and  that  is  that  man  Clark.  They  made  this 
treaty  in  good  faith,  and  supposed  they  had  provided 
for  the  future  welfare  of  these  Indians.  There  was 
enough  money  appropriated  to  have  supplied  them  un 
til  they  had  raised  crops  of  their  own,  and  then  to  have 
educated  the  whole  mass  of  the  children.  That  is 
what  they  intended  to  do,  and  thought  they  had  done. 
I  don't  blame  them  for  thinking  so,  for  I  believed  it 
myself.  When  I  made  that  speech  against  large  ap 
propriations  to  feed  and  clothe  the  Indians,  I  did  it  on 
general  principles,  and  that  fellow  Clark  thought  I  un 
derstood  the  whole  matter,  and  was  bound  to  have  a 


DIVIDING    THE    SPOILS.  199 

hand  in  it  or  make  trouble.  So  lie  came  around  and 
offered  me  tliat  place  to  keep  me  quiet.  He's  got  hold 
of  the  wrong  man  this  time.  I'll  follow  this  up 
until  I  land  every  one  of  these  scoundrels  in  the  peni 
tentiary." 

To  resolve  was  to  proceed  to  act  with  Wilmot,  and 
he  set  about  devising  some  plan  to  accomplish  his  pur 
pose.  He  decided  immediately  that  he  would  not  take 
the  agency,  but  it  would  not  do  to  let  them  think  he 
intended  to  prosecute  them. 

The  next  morning  when  Parker  called,  Wilmot 
said : 

"  I  have  been  thinking  this  matter  over.  I  can't  ac 
cept  of  any  such  arrangement  as  you  propose.  I  am  to 
go  out  there,  according  to  these  fellows'  plans,  and  take  all 
the  responsibility  of  this  thing  for  a  mere  pittance.  The 
risk  is  too  great  for  the  amount  involved.  I  have  a 
thing  to  propose,  which,  if  it  is  accepted,  will  be  satis 
factory  to  me.  Have  you  authority  to  arrange  this  mat 
ter  for  Mr.  Clark  and  the  other  commissioners  ?" 

"  I  have,"  said  Parker,  and  he  took  from  an  inside 
pocket  of  his  vest  a  large  pocket-book.  From  among 
numerous  papers  he  selected  a  small  slip,  and  handed  it 
to  Mr.  Wilmot.  Like  the  other,  it  was  dated  at  Wash 
ington,  and  contained  the  following  words  : 

"  Any  arrangement  made  by  the  bearer,  A.  S.  Par 
ker,  will  be  satisfactory  to  all  parties  interested. 

"H.  O.  CLAKK." 

Wilmot  could  hardly  resist  smiling  when  he  read  it 


200  DIVIDING    THE     SPOILS. 

It  was  a  very  ingeniously  worded  document.  There 
was  nothing  in  it  to  criminate  anybody  unless  it  was 
made  a  part  of  other  evidence.  Wilmot  wanted  to 
keep  that  paper  very  much,  but  he  did  not  want  to  seem 
to  want  to  keep  it.  After  reading  it  he  threw  it  down 
on  the  table  in  a  careless  sort  of  way  among  some  other 
loose  papers,  and  as  he  talked  he  took  up  a  large  pack 
age  of  papers,  bound  together  with  a  rubber  band, 
turned  them  over  and  over  in  one  hand,  snapped  the 
rubber  up  and  down  until  he  broke  it,  and  then  tossed 
the  loose  papers  on  top  of  Mr.  Clark's  note.  All  this 
time  he  was  talking,  and  the  whole  thing  was  done  as 
if  by  accident,  arid  as  though  he  had  utterly  forgotten 
that  little  scrap  of  paper. 

The  sharp  eyes  of  Mr.  Parker  had  been  following 
that  paper.  He  wanted  it  too,  but  did  not  want  to  seem 
to  want  it.  He  gave  a  sharp  glance  at  Wilmot,  but 
nothing  was  to  be  learned  from  that  tranquil  counte 
nance. 

"  What  is  your  proposition  ?"  said  Parker. 

"  I  want  to  name  the  man  who  is  to  have  that 
agency." 

"  Is  he  known  to  Mr.  Clark  ?" 

"  I  don't  know  whether  he  is  or  not." 

"  I  don't  think  that  will  be  satisfactory." 

"  I  know  him,  and  that  is  enough.  That  agency  is 
mine,  and  if  I  don't  want  to  go  myself,  I  have  a  right 
to  say  who  shall.  Let  Mr.  Clark  try  to  interfere  if  he 
dares.  You  came  upon  me  so  suddenly  that  I  have  not 
had  time  to  mention  the  matter  to  him  yet,  but  he  will 


DIVIDING    THE     SPOILS.  201 

be  appointed  agent  to  Red  Iron's  tribe,  or  I'll  know  the 
reason  why." 

"  You  need  not  get  excited,"  said  Parker  ;  "  I  did 
not  say  that  it  could  not  be  done,  and — " 

"  And  I  say  it  shall  be  done,"  broke  in  Wilmot,  with         , 
a  good  deal  of  vehemence." 

"  If  you  insist  upon  it,  I  suppose  we  will  have  to  sub 
mit." 

"  Well  I  do,  and  most  positively  too,"  replied  Wil- 
mot. 

"  What  is  his  name  ?" 

"  His  name  is  Harkins." 

Parker  gave  a  long,  low  whistle. 

"  Do  you  know  him  ?"  asked  Wilmot. 

"  I  should  say  I  did,"  said  Parker. 

"  Have  you  any  objections  ?" 

"  I  don't  know  that  it  would  do  any  good  to  object, 
as  you  say  you  will  insist  upon  it." 

"  Where  did  you  ever  meet  him  ?" 

"  At  Hickman's,  the  night  the  outbreak  occurred. 
I  was  among  those  who  helped  put  him  in  command 
that  night." 

"  Then  you  ought  to  be  good  friends." 

"  Well,  we  are,  I  guess." 

"  Now  then,  you  will  write  to  Mr.  Clark  the  arrange 
ment  we  have  made  ?" 

"  Shall  I  tell  him  the  matter  is  finally  settled  ?" 

"  No,  you  can't  tell  him  that,  for  I  have  not  seen 

Harkins  yet,  and  it  will  be  some  days  before  I  can  see 

him.     As  soon  as  1  do,  I  will  write  to  the   President 

and  ask  him  to  withdraw  my  nomination  and  substitute 

9* 


202  DIVIDING    THE    SPOILS. 

that  of  Harkins.  The  gentlemen  in  Washington  will 
see  that  it  is  done,  or  they  will  find  out  there  is  a  here 
after." 

Parker  went  away  and  Wilmot  hired  a  team  to  go 
and  find  Harkins,  who  was  off  to  the  north-west  with  a 
surveying  party.  The  two  men  were  old  college  claims 
and  they  entered  into  league  together,  the  object  of 
which  was  to  protect  the  Indians  and  "  to  send  the 
whole  outfit  of  contractors,  Congressmen  and  everybody 
else  engaged  in  this  fraud,  to  the  penitentiary."  Hark- 
ins's  contract  of  surveying  was  about  finished,  and  he 
could  not  get  another  before  the  next  season,  so  he 
thought  he  might  as  well  go  into  this  plot  of  Wilmot's 
and  make  a  winter's  job  of  it." 

All  the  time  that  Wilmot  had  been  telling  this  to 
Jack,  he  sat  there  getting  "  madder  and  madder,"  as  he 
expressed  it. 

"  Now,  look  a  here,"  said  Jack,  "  you'll  never  git 
them  chaps  convicted.  The  only  thing  for  them  is  a 
dose  of  lead.  I'd  like  to  get  a  bead  on  that  Parker. 
He'd  never  pocket  any  fifteen  thousand  dollars  of  old 
Hed  Iron's  money,  you  can  bet  your  life  on  that." 

"  Now,  Jack,"  said  Wilmot,  "  I  have  relied  on  you 
for  help,  but  if  you  go  to  shooting  anybody  it  will  ruin 
the  whole  business.  Suppose  you  should  shoot  Parker, 
some  one  else  just  as  bad  would  take  his  place  and 
steal  just  as  much  as  he  would.  But  suppose  I  should 
get  him  and  Clark  and  Perkins  convicted  and  sent  to 
the  penitentiary,  it  would  put  a  stop  to  such  things. 
The  next  one*  who  comes  would  be  afraid  to  try  the 
same  game.  Now,  I  want  you  to  promise  that  you 


DIVIDING    THE    SPOILS.  203 

won't  do  any  shooting,  but  help  me  work  up  this 
case." 

"  Say,  have  you  and  Colonel  Greene  and  Jennie 
Walker  been  putting  up  a  job  on  me  ?" 

"  Why,  no  !  What  makes  you  ask  such  a  question  ?" 

"Now,  there's  that  Perkins,  that  old  pious  fraud 
Clark,  and  that  lying,  thieving,  half-breed  Shonnee, 
who  will  never  get  their  deserts  until  some  man  lets 
daylight  through  'em,  and  you  are  all  after  me,  making 
me  promise  I  won't  shoot  'em.  Jennie  Walker  cried 
and  had  a  fainting  fit,  'cause  she  thought  I  was  down 
here  after  Perkins.  Colonel  Greene  made  me  swear 
off  on  Clark  and  Shonnie,  Jennie  on  Perkins,  and  now 
you  are  awful  tender  on  this  thief  Parker,  who  wants 
to  steal  all  of  old  lied  Iron's  money.  Hang  me,  if  I 
can  understand  it.  Just  let  them  fellows  come  out 
there  once,  and  I  would  clear  the  whole  pack  out  in 
fifteen  minutes,  and  not  take  any  advantage  of  them 
either." 

Wilmot  did  not  hear  one  word  of  all  the  last  part  of 
Jack's  excited  speech.  His  face  had  settled  into  that 
meaningless  look  in  which  he  always  took  refuge  when 
excited  or  troubled.  He  made  no  reply  at  all.  Jack 
thought  he  had  offended  him,  so  he  stretched  out  his 
hand  to  shake  hands  with  him,  and  said  : 

"  Don't  take  it  that  way,  pard.  Of  course  I  was 
joking  when  I  said  you  were  putting  up  a  job  on  me. 
I  know  you  and  Jennie  and  Colonel  Greene  are  all  my 
friends  and  wouldn't  no  ways  put  up  any  sort  of  a  job 


204:  DYING     LIKE     BRAVE     MEN. 

"  "Why  is  Miss  Walker  so  very  anxious  about 
Perkins  \ " 

;c  That's  just  what  gets  away  with  me,"  said  Jack. 
"  She  says  she  hates  him,  wishes  I'd  a  killed  him  down 
at  the  Causeland  House  the  day  he  was  firing  that  pop 
gun  off  at  me,  and  then  says  that  she  had  rather  I'd 
shoot  her  than  Perkins." 

"  That's  very  strange." 

"  If  it  was  a  man  who  would  talk  that  way,  I'd  put 
him  down  for  a  lunatic,  but  there's  no  accountin'  for  a 
woman's  ideas.  I  give  it  up.  But  about  this  'ere 
business.  If  I  can  help  old  Red  Iron  by  puttin'  day 
light  through  these  scoundrels,  I'm  in  for  it.  If  I  can't 
do  it  that  way,  I'm  in  for  the  next  best  thing." 

"  Now  you  are  talking  sensibly.  If  we  appeal  to 
the  law  to  punish  these  men,  we  must  not  violate  it 
ourselves." 


CHAPTER  XXYI. 

DYING   LIKE   BRAVE   MEN. 

OLONEL  GREENE  received  an  order  to  turn 
the  Indians  over  to  the  agents  of  the  In 
terior  Department.  Harkins  was  on  the 
ground,  and  took  charge  of  those  who 
were  assigned  to  him  ;  but  Perkins  did  not  arrive, 
and  the  others  were  put  under  the  control  of  the  man 
who  had  been  appointed  farmer,  as  acting  agent.  Trains 
were  made  up,  and  the  Indians  started  for  their  respect- 


DYING     LIKE     BRAVE    MEN.  205 

ive  reservations.  The  Indians  had  no  stock  of  their 
own  ;  so  contracts  for  their  transportation  had  been  let. 
All  seemed  satisfactory.  About  the  time  Perkins's 
Indians  reached  their  destination,  Colonel  Greene  re 
ceived  an  order  to  send  two  companies  of  cavalry  to 
their  agency  to  preserve  order.  The  paper  stated  that 
this  was  done  in  compliance  with  a  request  made  on  the 
Secretary  of  War  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  and 
the  troops  were  sent. 

One  morning  Wilmot  was  greatly  surprised  to  learn 
that  the  Judge  of  the  Circuit  Court  had  called  a  special 
session,  to  be  held  in  two  weeks.  None  of  the  lawyers 
in  town  seemed  to  know  anything  about  the  matter, 
and  none  could  give  a  reason  for  holding  a  special  ses 
sion.  The  District  Attorney  said  he  supposed  it  was 
for  the  purpose  of  trying  the  criminal  cases  on  the 
docket. 

Wilmot  suspected  that  it  had  some  connection  with 
Perkins's  appearance  before  the  grand  jury,  but  could 
not  imagine  who  he  could  want  to  prosecute. 

Perkins  was  still  in  Washington,  he  learned,  from  a 
letter  he  had  received  from  Mr.  Clark,  and  did  not  in 
tend  to  leave  there  for  some  time. 

Two  days  before  court  was  to  convene,  a  military 
escort  rode  up  in  front  of  the  county  jail,  and  turned 
over  to  the  sheriff  five  Indian  prisoners.  They  were 
Badger,  Meha's  uncle,  and  three  others  of  the  same 
band.  They  had  been  arrested  for  the  murder  of  the 
passengers  in  the  stage-coach. 

Wilmot  was  furious  when  he  heard  the  news,  and 
resolved  to  offer  his  services  to  defend  them.  When 


206  DYING     LIKE    BRAVE    MEN. 

lie  made  an  effort  to  see  them,  lie  was  informed  that 
they  could  be  seen  by  no  one  except  their  counsel,  and 
the  Government  had  furnished  them  with  counsel. 
He  got  the  names  of  these  lawyers  and  went  to  call  on 
them,  to  offer  them  his  assistance.  On  going  to  the 
Empire  House,  he  was  introduced  to  two  as  villainous- 
looking  men  as  he  had  ever  seen.  Both  of  them  were 
very  much  under  the  influence  of  liquor,  and  declined 
his  offer  of  aid  in  the  most  insulting  manner  possible. 
Wilmot  found  that  he  was  unable  to  render  the  Indians 
the  slightest  assistance.  The  next  day  Colonel  Greene, 
accompanied  by  an  aid,  and  the  Judge  Advocate  of  the 
department,  arrived,  and  took  rooms  at  the  Causeland 
House. 

How  all  this  came  about  may  seem  very  strange  to 
the  forty-nine  million  five  hundred  thousand  people  in 
the  United  States,  who  know  nothing  about  our  Indian 
system.  So  it  will  have  to  be  explained. 

When  Perkins  was  with  the  Peace  Commission  at 
the  fort  on  the  Little  Blue,  he  was  very  much  enraged 
at  the  earnest  protest  made  by  Badger's  band  against 
his  appointment  as  agent.  He  had  a  talk  with  Shonnee 
about  it.  Shonnee  said,  "  Injun  heap  mad.  Kill  'em, 
sure." 

"  What  are  they  mad  about  ?"  asked  Perkins. 

"  Badger  say  you  cheat  heap.  No  play  fair.  Steal 
Injun  blanket,  money,  everything.  Badger  heap  mad. 
Kill  'em,  sure." 

Perkins  was  very  badly  frightened  about  this,  and 
took  measures  to  get  rid  of  Badger  and  the  leaders  of 
this  movement  against  him.  So  he  laid  the  plot  to 


DYING     LIKE     BRAVE    MEN.  207 

Lave  them  arrested  for  murder,  and  knowing  lie  could 
not  carry  it  out  as  long  as  they  were  under  the  control 
of  the  military  as  prisoners  of  war,  he  had  waited  until 
they  were  turned  over  to  the  Interior  Department. 
Then  he  went  down  to  Hickman's  and  hunted  up  some 
of  the  gamblers  and  roughs  who  infested  that  neighbor 
hood,  and  took  them  as  witnesses  before  the  grand  jury, 
who,  on  the  evidence  presented  (for  these  men  swore 
they  knew  these  Indians,  and  had  met  them  as  they 
were  returning  from  the  assault  on  the  stage-coach, 
having  hid  in  the  brush  and  saw  them  go  by),  found  a 
true  bill  against  them.  As  soon  as  they  were  indicted, 
Perkins  went  to  Washington  and  laid  the  matter  be 
fore  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior.  He  took  a  letter 
from  the  Senator,  and  the  Representative  went  with 
him  to  the  office  of  the  Secretary. 

"  This  gentleman,"  said  the  Representative,  "  desires 
to  call  your  attention  to  a  very  important  matter.  He 
has  long  been  known  as  a  friend  to  the  Indians,  and  it 
is  owing  to  his  unselfish  exertions,  more  than  to  any 
other  man,  that  the  troubles  on  the  Little  Blue  have 
been  satisfactorily  settled.  I  ask  for  him  a  patient 
hearing." 

"  What  is  the  nature  of  your  business  ?"  asked  the 
Secretary. 

"  I  reside,"  said  Perkins,  "  near  the  scene  of  the  re 
cent  war.  I  know  a  great  many  of  those  Indians  per 
sonally,  for  they  have  been  in  the  habit,  for  a  long 
time,  of  coming  to  me  for  advice  and  assistance.  I  am 
very  much  attached  to  some,  for  they  are  trusting  and 
childlike,  and  want  to  do  what  is  right,  but  there  are 


208  DYING    LIKE    BRAVE    MEN. 

others  among  them  wlio  are  very  desperate  characters, 
blood-thirsty  and  cruel.  They  are  very  ranch  opposed 
to  any  change  in  their  habits,  despise  work,  and  look 
upon  any  Indian  who  is  willing  to  work  as  degraded. 
There  will  never  be  any  chance  to  do  anything  with 
them,  until  some  of  them  are  punished  for  their  crimes, 
and  taught  that  murder  is  not  a  thing  to  be  proud  of. 
This  whole  war  was  caused  by  the  cold-blooded  murder 
of  the  people  in  the  stage.  ~Not  being  satisfied  with 
murder  and  robbery  they  scalped  and  mutilated  the 
bodies  of  their  victims  beyond  recognition,  some  of 
their  work  being  too  horrible  and  indecent  to  be  re 
lated.  Only  five  Indians  were  engaged  in  this.  They 
are  well-known,  and  these  are  not  the  only  murders 
they  have  committed.  ~No  white  settler  within  a 
hundred  miles  of  the  new  agency  will  be  safe  while 
these  Indians  are  at  large.  The  grand  jury  at  Council 
Bluifs  has  indicted  them  in  due  form.  If  taken  there 
they  will  have  a  fair  trial." 

"  There  is  a  general  demand  in  that  section  of  the 
country,"  said  the  Representative,  "  that  these  Indians 
should  be  punished." 

"  What  do  you  desire  should  be  done  ?"  asked  the 
Secretary. 

"  Well,  if  any  civil  officer  should  undertake  to  arrest 
them,  his  scalp  would  be  dangling  at  some  of  their 
belts  inside  of  five  minutes,  so  the  people  there  desire 
that  they  may  be  arrested  by  the  military  and  turned 
over  to  the  sheriff  of  the  county." 

"  I  see  no  reason  why  this  request  should  not  be 
granted,"  said  the  Secretary. 


DYING    LIKE     BRAVE    MEN.  209 

"I  am  very  anxious,"  said  Perkins,  "that  the 
Indians,  if  they  are  turned  over  to  the  civil  authorities, 
should  have  a  fair  trial  and  be  well  defended.  It  may 
be  possible  that  some  one  of  them  may  not  be  guilty,  or 
not  as  guilty  as  others.  They  are  the  wards  of  the 
Government,  and  ought  to  have  counsel  to  defend 
them.  I  think  you  have  authority  to  appoint  such 
counsel  ?" 

"  Yes,"  replied  the  Secretary,  "  that  is  always  done 
in  such  cases.  Have  you  in  mind  any  lawyer  you 
would  like  to  recommend." 

"  I  would  recommend  two  smart,  active  lawyers, 
who  live  not  far  from  there.  They  are  partners.  The 
firm  name  is  Bledsoe  &  Dosier.  Perhaps  our  Repre 
sentative  has  some  one  else  to  suggest." 

u  They  are  the  best  criminal  lawyers  in  that  section, 
and  would  be  an  excellent  selection,"  said  the  Repre 
sentative. 

Then  the  Secretary  wrote  a  formal  request  to  the 
Secretary  of  War,  asking  that  the  nearest  military  com 
mander  be  instructed  to  furnish  a  detail  of  soldiers, 
sufficiently  large  to  arrest  these  Indians  and  convey 
them  to  Council  Bluffs,  there  to  be  turned  over  to  the 
civil  authorities  and  be  tried  for  murder. 

The  Secretary  of  War  issued  the  order,  which  was 
forwarded  through  the  regular  channels  to  Colonel 
Greene. 

When  Colonel  Greene  received  that  order,  he  was 
astonished  and  chagrined  beyond  the  power  of  expres 
sion.  More  than  that,  he  felt  humiliated  and  disgraced. 


210  DYING    LIKE     BEAVE     MEN. 

But  Colonel  Greene  was  a  soldier,  and  of  soldiers  it  is 
said: 

"  Theirs  not  to  make  reply, 

Theirs  not  to  reason  why, 

Theirs  but  to  do—" 

When  such  facts  as  these  have  been  related  it  is 
often  asked  "  Why  didn't  he  resign  ?"  Colonel  Greene 
had  this  order.  If  he  did  not  obey  it  he  would  be 
court-martialed.  If  he  had  sent  in  his  resignation  the 
moment  he  received  the  order  he  would  not  be  relieved, 
if  it  was  accepted,  for  mouths,  and  meantime  he  must 
do  his  duty  as  an  officer  of  the  army.  If  it  was 
accepted  what  good  would  it  have  done?  Another 
officer  would  take  his  place,  and  the  same  system  would 
still  endure.  There  was  but  one  thing  that  Colonel 
Greene  could  do,  for  he  had  taken  a  solemn  oath  when 
he  entered  the  army  to  obey  the  orders  of  his  superior 
officers,  and  that  was  to  make  the  detail  and  send  these 
Indians  to  Council  Bluffs. 

It  was  with  a  sad  heart  that  Colonel  Greene  wrote 
the  necessary  orders.  He  made  a  detail  of  only  one 
Lieutenant  and  three  men,  and  gave  them  their  instruc 
tions.  The  Lieutenant  went  to  Badger's  tent  alone  and 
told  him  that  he  had  orders  to  take  him  to  Council 
Bluffs ;  that  he  was  charged  with  the  murder  of  the 
people  in  the  stage-coach,  and  that  four  others  must 
come  with  him.  Then  the  Lieutenant  went  away. 
Word  was  sent  by  the  Indians  to  all  the  band,  and  they 
assembled  together.  Badger  arose  and  addressed  them. 
After  stating  the  message  he  had  received,  he  said : 


DYING     LIKE    BRAVE    MEN.  211 

"  We  will  have  to  obey  this  order.  "We  are  utterly 
helpless.  All  our  horses  and  all  our  arms  have  been 
surrendered  on  the  promise  that  our  lives  should  be 
protected.  The  white  officer  has  violated  his  promise. 
We  cannot  resist.  To  flee  on  foot  out  on  the  prairies  is 
but  to  die,  with  all  our  women  and  children.  When 
the  white  officer  sees  our  dead  bodies,  perhaps  he  will 
be  satisfied,  and  he  will  let  the  rest  of  you  live.  To 
morrow  morning  come  to  my  tent,  and  we  will  go  to 
gether  with  this  officer." 

The  five  victims  sat  down  and  drew  their  blankets 
over  their  heads.  They  spoke  not  one  word,  nor  made 
any  sign  of  the  woe  that  was  in  their  hearts.  It  was 
not  so  with  their  friends  and  relatives.  They  wept  and 
wailed  aloud  for  hours.  After  awhile  the  men  got  up 
and  went  to  their  tents,  and  their  wives  and  children 
gathered  around  them.  They  did  not  express  their  grief 
then  in  the  same  form  that  white  women  and  children 
would  have  done,  but  their  sorrow  was  just  as  deep  and 
agonizing.  Swift  Walker,  Meha's  uncle,  took  his  accus 
tomed  place  in  his  tent.  His  wife  spread  out  the  best 
robe  she  had  for  him  to  sit  on.  Then  she  sat  down  be 
side  him.  For  a  long  time  not  a  word  was  spoken.  At 
last  Swift  Walker  said  : 

"  It  seems  but  a  little  while  ago  that  you  came  to 
live  with  me  ;  but  many  summers  have  come  arid  gone, 
and  we  are  now  getting  old.  You  have  always  been 
good  to  rne.  It  would  be  a  little  while,  not  many  sum 
mers,  before  we  must  die,  if  the  white  men  would  let 
us  live  our  full  length  of  days.  The  Great  Spirit 
seems  to  be  angry  with  his  red  children,  and  takes  us 


212  DYING    LIKE     BRAVE     MEN. 

away  before  our  time.  We  did  wrong  to  give  up  our 
horses  and  our  guns  to  the  white  officer,  and  the  Great 
Spirit  is  angry.  He  gave  us  these  things  to  defend  our 
women  and  children,  and  we,  like  cowards,  surrendered 
them  up.  If  we  had  horses  we  might  flee  away.  If 
we  had  arms  we  could  subsist  on  the  plains ;  but  now 
we  are  at  his  mercy,  and  what  the  white  man  calls  mer 
cy  is  to  kill  the  innocent,  and  break  his  word  to  those 
who  have  trusted  in  him." 

The  tears  streamed  down  over  his  wife's  face,  and 
she  rocked  herself  backward  and  forward,  but  uttered 
not  any  sound. 

After  awhile  the  Indian  woman  got  up  and  went  out 
side  the  tent.  If  a  stranger  had  passed  by  he  would 
never  have  guessed  from  her  appearance  that  her  heart 
was  breaking.  Then  she  cooked  her  husband's  supper. 
Every  delicacy  which  she  had  she  spread  before  h:m. 
But  Swift  Walker  ate  but  little.  After  supper  she 
spread  his  couch  for  him  and  laid  down  by  his  side. 
When  he  was  asleep  she  arose  and  sat  by  his  side 
through  the  long  hours  of  the  night,  bending  over  him 
and  weeping.  Early  in  the  morning  she  prepared  his 
breakfast.  Swift  Walker  did  not  come  out  of  his  tent. 
When  she  thought  that  this  was  the  last  time  she  would 
ever  eat  with  him  it  seemed  as  though  she  would  die. 
She  put  her  hand  on  her  heart  and  said,  "  I  have  a  great 
pain  here." 

Her  husband  spoke  but  one  word.  Translated,  it 
could  be  rendered  only,  "  be  brave,"  but  it  had  a  deeper 
meaning  than  that,  a  religious  meaning,  which  seemed 
to  give  her  strength  to  endure  with  fortitude  the  great 


DYING     LIKE    BKAVE    MEN.  213 

trial  of  a  final  parting.  About  sunrise  the  doomed  five 
assembled  at  Badger's  tent.  Similar  scenes  had  been 
enacted  at  each  of  their  homes.  They  knew  that  they 
were  going  among  those  who  thirsted  for  their  blood, 
and  that  they  were  going  to  their  death,  and  that  death 
the  most  ignominious  that  could  be  accorded  to  a  red 
man.  The  Indians  gave  one  long  look  at  their  tents, 
but  110  word  of  complaint  ever  came  from  their  lips. 
Badger  led  the  way  to  the  place  where  the  Lieutenant 
was  stopping.  They  were  given  horses  to  ride,  but  no 
guard  was  placed  over  them.  They  rode  into  Council 
Bluffs  with  heads  erect  and  with  the  bearing  of 
senators,  amidst  the  jeers  of  a  brutal  crowd,  to  the  jail 
which  was  to  be  the  last  covering  they  would  ever 
have  over  their  heads. 

The  trial  came  on.  The  jury  was  impaneled  and 
they  were  shown  the  two  villains,  called  lawyers,  who 
were  to  defend  them.  To  none  of  it  did  they  pay  any 
heed. 

At  this  stage  of  the  proceedings,  Wilmot  arose  and 
addressed  the  court.  He  said  that  Colonel  Greene  was 
present  and  desired  to  make  a  statement  through  the 
Judge  Advocate  of  the  Department,  who  was  an  at 
torney  and  entitled  to  address  the  court.  The  Judge 
said  he  would  hear  what  he  had  to  say. 

The  Judge  Advocate  then  stated  that  these  pris 
oners  were  among  the  number  of  Indians  who  had 
recently  surrendered  to  Colonel  Greene  as  prisoners  of 
war ;  that  Colonel  Greene,  being  in  command  of  the 
forces  sent  to  subject  them,  was  authorized  by  the 
laws  of  war,  and  by  direct  orders  from  the  General-in- 


214:  DYING     LIKE    BRAVE    MEN. 

Chief  of  the  army,  to  make  the  conditions  of  sur 
render.  The  arrest  of  these  parties  was  a  violation  of 
the  conditions  under  which  they  surrendered,  and  he 
did  not  believe  that  their  prosecution  by  the  civil 
authorities,  for  acts  committed  during  the  progress  of 
the  war,  was  legal.  He  asked  the  Judge  to  dismiss  the 
cases  against  them,  and  decree  that  Colonel  Greene 
was  acting  legally  and  in  accordance  with  the  laws  of 
the  United  States,  as  well  as  the  law  of  nations,  in 
making  these  conditions  of  surrender. 

The  Judge  said  these  cases  came  before  him  as  any 
ordinary  case.  An  indictment  had  been  found  in  due 
form,  the  cases  had  been  called,  a  jury  impaneled, 
and  the  prisoners  interrogated  as  to  whether  they  were 
guilty  or  not  guilty.  They  had  plead  not  guilty.  They 
had  counsel  employed  by  the  Government.  He  could 
not  see  how,  at  this  stage  of  the  proceedings,  he  could 
dismiss  the  case  on  an  ex  parte  statement.  If  their 
counsel  desired  to  make  a  motion  to  quash  the  indict 
ments  on  this  ground  or  any  other,  he  would  hear 
argument  upon  it. 

"  We  are  capable,  we  think,"  said  Mr.  Bledsoe,  "  of 
managing  this  defense  without  any  instructions  or  inter 
ference  from  the  military  or  anybody  else.  We  do  not 
desire  to  make  any  such  motion." 

"  Then,"  said  the  Judge,  "  I  see  no  way  but  to  pro 
ceed  with  the  trial.  The  District  Attorney  will  call  his 
first  witness." 

"  John  Hildreth,"  said  the  attorney,  "  come  forward 
and  be  sworn." 

A  low-browed,  short-haired,  dark-complected,  stout- 


DYING     LIKE     BRAVE     MEN.  215 

built  man  pressed  his  way  through  the  crowd  to  the 
witness-stand. 

"  Be  sworn,"  said  the  judge. 

He  held  up  his  hand,  and  the  clerk  of  the  court 
administered  the  oath. 

"  What  is  your  name  ?  "  asked  the  attorney. 

"Johnliddreth." 

"  Where  do  you  reside  3" 

"In  St.  Louis." 

"  Do  you  know  these  prisoners  at  the  bar  ?" 

"I  do." 

"  Tell  to  the  court  where  you  last  saw  them,  and  all 
the  circumstances,  as  far  as  you  can  remember  them." 

"  In  the  month  of  June,  last  year,  I  was  coming 
up  from  St.  Joe  with  four  other  men.  We  passed  by 
Hickman's " 

Here  Mr.  Bledsoe  arose  and  said,  that  as  his  clients 
could  not  speak  English  or  understand  it,  he  asked  of 
the  court  that  an  interpreter  might  be  appointed  to 
interpret  the  evidence  to  them. 

The  Judge  said  that  he  would  appoint  one,  if  one 
could  be  had. 

Mr.  Bledsoe  replied,  that  they  had  made  every 
effort  to  prepare  for  a  vigorous  defense,  and  had  not 
overlooked  this.  They  had  a  reliable  interpreter 
present,  and  he  brought  forward  Shonnee.  Then  the 
witness  proceeded. 

"As  I  was  saying,  we  passed  by  Hickman's  the 
morning  after  the  outbreak.  Hearing  the  news,  we 
kept  a  sharp  look-out  for  Indians,  and  where  the  under- 
]brush  was  thick  and  likely  to  be  made  an  ambush  by 


216  DYING     LIKE     BKAVE     MEN. 

them,  we  did  not  keep  in  the  open  road.  As  we  were 
passing  carefully  through  the  timber,  we  heard  a  noise 
and  concealed  ourselves.  Shortly  after  these  five 
Indians  passed  by,  within  a  few  yards  of  us.  They 
had  fresh  scalps  fastened  to  their  belts,  and  an  extra 
horse  on  which  was  strapped  several  mail  bags.  That's 
all  I  know  about  it." 

"  Have  you  anything  else  to  ask  him  ?"  said  the 
Judge  to  the  District  Attorney. 

"  Nothing,"  replied  the  attorney. 

"  Take  the  witness,  Mr.  Bledsoe,"  said  the  Judge. 

"  You  are  certain  that  these  are  the  same  men  whom 
you  saw  on  that  June  day  a  year  or  more  ago  ?"  asked 
Mr.  Bledsoe. 

"  Yes,  sir,"  said  the  witness. 

"  Don't  all  Indians  look  very  much  alike  ?" 

"  Well,  they  are  all  red-skins,  but  there's  a  good 
deal  of  difference  in  them  after  all." 

"  How  can  you  tell  one  Indian  from  another  ?" 

"  Pretty  much  in  the  same  way  that  you  tell  one 
white  man  from  another." 

"Was  there  anything  peculiar  about  those  Indians 
so  as  to  make  it  possible  to  recognize  the  identical  per 
sons  when  you  saw  them  again  ?" 

"  Well,  yes ;  two  of  them  were  very  tall,  and  the 
others  short.  One  was  inclined  to  be  fleshy.  One  had 
a  large,  long  scar  on  his  right  arm.  The  tall  one  had 
a  slit  in  his  ear  that  was  next  to  me,  which  went  almost 
clear  around  the  whole  ear." 

"  Mr.  Hildreth,"  said  Bledsoe,  in  a  very  rough  tone, 
"  do  you  come  into  court,  and  pretend  to  swear  posi- 


DYING     LIKE     BRAVE    MEN.  217 

lively,  after  a  whole  year  has  intervened,  that  these  are 
the  same  Indians  you  saw  that  next  day  after  the  out 
break  at  Hickman's  ?" 

"  I  do,"  said  Hildreth. 

"  Well,  you  can  step  aside,"  said  Bledsoc  in  a  dis 
gusted  tone. 

"  Mr.  Sheriff,"  said  the  Judge,  "  adjourn  court  un 
til  6  o'clock,"  and  that  ended  the  first  session  of  the 
court. 

About  half-past  one  o'clock,  Wilmot  called  on  Colonel 
Greene  at  the  Causeland  House.  His  face  was  flushed 
and  he  was  in  a  towering  rage. 

"  Do  you  see  what  they  are  doing  ?"  said  Wilmot. 

"  I  see  that  they  don't  intend  to  pay  any  attention 
to  the  terms  of  that  surrender,"  said  Colonel  Greene. 

"  I  know  that,"  said  Wilmot,  "  but  don't  you  see 
what  Bledsoe  and  Dosier  are  doing,  while  they  are  pre 
tending  to  act  as  counsel  for  these  Indians  ?" 

"  No,  I  didn't  see  anything  wrong.  Bledsoe  did 
more  than  I  expected  to  see  him,  in  cross-examining 
that  witness.  I  should  think  that  a  very  doubtful 
point  about  identifying  these  particular  Indians." 

"  Well,  Colonel,  you  would  never  make  a  lawyer, 
that's  one  thing  sure." 

"  I  don't  think  I  should.  But  what  is  wrong  about 
that  defense  ?" 

"  It's  a  fraud,  a  most  damnable  fraud,"  said  Wil 
mot,  and  he  brought  his  fist  down  on  the  table  with  a 
force  that  made  everything  in  the  room  rattle.  "  Can't 
you  see  what  that  fellow  was  deliberately  doing  ?  The 
only  ground  for  a  defense  which  was  left  was  that  these 
10 


218  DYING     LIKE    BRAVE    MEX. 

were  not  tlie  persons  who  committed  the  ciime  ;  and 
lie  went  to  work  with  malice  and  deliberation  to  put 
that  point  beyond  dispute.  When  he  commenced  to 
question  the  witness  on  points  not  mentioned  in  the  ex 
amination  in  chief,  he  made  him,  in  law,  his  own  wit 
ness.  Now,  you  can't  introduce  testimony  to  impeach 
your  own  witness.  So  what  he  says,  if  it  is  against  you, 
must  stand.  Now,  after  he  had  made  him  his  own 
witness,  he  goes  to  work  and  proves  that  these  are  the 
identical  Indians.  He  can't  impeach  that  witness  now. 
His  testimony  must  stand.  It  seals  the  fate  of  every 
one  of  them.  Every  question  he  asked  was  asked  for 
the  purpose  of  proving  that  these  were  the  very  parties 
and  no  mistake.  It's  a  fraud,  a  most  damnable  fraud, 
and  Bledsoe  and  Dosier  ought  to  be  hung,  drawn  and 
quartered.  They  have  deliberately  sacrificed  the  lives 
of  their  clients.  Why  did  not  they  ask  for  a  continu 
ance,  summon  witnesses  and  prove  an  alibi  ?  They 
never  could  have  convicted  these  Indians  in  the  world 
if  they  had  made  half  a  defense.  A  lawyer  who  will 
betray  his  client — well,  there  is  no  place  in  the  infernal 
regions  half  hot  enough  for  him." 

"  I  see  now,"  said  Colonel  Greene,  "  the  object  of 
those  questions.  I  came  down  here  to  see  if  I  could 
aid  these  poor  men  in  any  way,  but  I  guess  the  case  is 
hopeless.  I  don't  think,  though,  that  these  lawyers 
have  betrayed  their  client.  The  Secretary  of  the  Interior 
is  their  client,  and  not  these  Indians.  He  hired  them, 
and  I  suppose  they  are  trying  to  carry  out  his  wishes, 
and  perhaps  his  instructions." 

"  Oh,  no,"  said  Wilmot,  "  it  is  impossible  that  the 


DYING     LIKE     BEAVE    MEN.  219 

Secretary  of  the  Interior  should  do  such  a  thing.  He  is 
a  statesman  of  national  reputation,  and  that  lie  has  the 
good  of  these  Indians  at  heart  I  have  no  doubt.  It  is 
impossible  that  he  should  know  anything  about  the  cir 
cumstances  of  this  case.  I  have  a  notion  to  go  to  Wash 
ington  and  lay  the  whole  matter  before  him." 

"  That  would  be  a  waste  of  time.  He  knows  a  good 
deal  more  about  it  than  you  do.  They  have  all  the 
facts  down  to  the  smallest  details  in  Washington.  All 
my  official  reports  have  been  laid  before  the  Secretary 
of  the  Interior  for  his  information,  and  I  have  been  very 
careful  to  make  them  full  and  explicit.  I  sent  all  the 
facts  about  the  attack  on  Hickman's  and  the  robbery  of 
the  stage-coach,  with  the  evidence  showing  that  the 
crime  was  committed  by  white  men,  over  a  year  ago, 
and  it  was  sent  to  the  Secretary's  office  the  very  day  it 
was  received  in  Washington." 

"  Is  it  possible  ?"  said  Wilmot,  "  you  astonish  me 
beyond  measure." 

"  You  see  it  is  only  a  waste  of  time  and  money  for 
you  to  go  there  to  give  him  information." 

"  What  is  to  be  done  then  ?" 

"  There  is  nothing  which  can  be  done  that  I 
know,"  said  Colonel  Greene.  "These  men,  though 
innocent,  will  have  to  suffer  death." 

"  It  is  perfectly  awful,"  said  Wilmot. 

"  I  have  seen  the  same  scenes  enacted,  over  and  over 
again,  ever  since  I  have  been  in  the  army.  I  only  know 
of  two  ways  that  this  cruelty  can  be  stopped.  One  is 
to  make  the  Indians  citizens  and  treat  them  like  all 
other  persons,  and  the  other  to  put  them  entirely  under 


220  DYING     LIKE    BRAVE    MEN. 

the  control  of  the  army.  If  these  Indians  who  are 
under  arrest  here  were  citizens,  they  would  have  the 
right  to  choose  their  own  counsel,  but  as  they  are 
4  wards '  of  the  nation,  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  is 
their  guardian,  and  he  employs  their  lawyers  for  them." 

"  Shall  you  make  any  further  effort  to  assist 
them?" 

"  No,  I  shall  start  for  the  fort  in  the  morning.  I 
sent  a  courier  the  moment  I  received  the  order  for 
their  arrest,  with  a  report,  containing  a  protest  against 
the  violation  of  the  conditions  on  which  these  Indians 
surrendered,  to  the  department  commander,  but  nothing 
can  be  done." 

When  court  was  called  that  afternoon  a  great 
crowd  was  in  attendance.  Another  witness  was  called 
and  the  scene  of  the  morning  was  re-enacted,  and  so  it 
went  on  for  two  or  three  days.  At  last  the  case  was 
submitted  and  the  jury  found  them  guilty  without 
leaving  their  seats. 

Long  afterward  Colonel  Greene  wrote  the  following 
account  of  the  last  scene  in  this  tragedy  : 

"  The  trial  was  over  and,  of  course,  the  Indians 
were  condemned  to  be  hanged.  Without  a  murmur  or 
sigh  of  regret,  and  with  a  dignity  that  would  have 
impressed  a  Zulu  with  profound  pity,  these  men  walked 
to  the  gallows  and  were  hung,  while  a  crowd  of 
'  civilized '  Americans, — men,  women  and  children  of 
the  nineteenth  century, — looked  on  and  laughed  at 
their  last  convulsions. 

"We  have  read  of  heroes  of  all  times,  but  never 
did  we  read  or  believe  that  such  heroism  as  these 


COLONEL   GREENE    DISGRACED.  221 

Indians  exhibited  could  exist.  They  knew  that  to  be 
accused  was  to  be  condemned,  and  that  they  would  be 
executed  in  that  civilized  town,  just  as  surely  as  would 
a  poor  woman  accused  of  being  a  witch  have  been 
executed  in  the  civilized  town  of  Salem,  in  the  good 
State  of  Massachusetts,  two  hundred  years  ago. 

"  Many  years  have  passed  away  since  the  execution 
or  murder  of  these  Indians.  Bledsoe  &  Dosier  still 
live,  and  the  intelligent  jury,  no  man  of  whom  dared 
to  utter  a  word  of  pity  or  admiration  of  these  poor 
Indians,  with  the  spectators  of  that  horrid  scene,  are 
either  dead  and  damned,  or  they  are  sunk  in  the  oblivion 
that  is  the  fate  of  those  who  are  born  without  souls. 
But  while  history  is  read,  or  men  admire  that  which  is 
heroic,  noble  and  unselfish,  will  these  brave  sufferers 
under  a  system  more  cruel  and  relentless  than  the  iron 
rule  of  czar  or  sultan,  be  remembered  and  honored." 


CHAPTER  XXVIL 

COLONEL  GREENE  DISGRACED. 

ARKINS  had  conducted  the  Indians  to  their 
reservation.  He  was  active,  prudent  and 
energetic.  The  first  thing  to  be  done  was 
to  build  the  necessary  agency  buildings. 
The  spot  chosen  was  on  the  bank  of  the  river.  Near 
by  was  a  large  bottom  covered  with  a  heavy  growth  of 


222  COLONEL    GREENE    DISGRACED. 

timber.  The  houses  for  the  agency  employees  were 
strung  along  the  bank  without  any  regard  to  order. 
They  were  one-story  frame  houses,  except  the  agent's, 
which  was  two-story.  Then  there  was  a  blacksmith- 
shop,  a  carpenter-shop,  the  trader's  house  and  store, 
the  council-room,  and  the  agent's  office.  Their  erection 
cost  the  full  amount  estimated  by  Parker.  This  gave 
active  employment  to  Harkins  for  many  weeks,  but 
when  they  were  finished  a  dull  monotony  settled  down 
over  everything.  He  was,  as  it  were,  out  6f  the  world, 
no  occupation,  no  kind  of  amusement.  A  constant 
tattle  went  on  between  the  families  which  constituted 
the  little  white  colony.  It  was,  "  she  said,"  "  he  said," 
"  they  did  this,"  and  "  they  did  that,"  from  morning 
until  night.  Nobody  had  anything  to  do,  so  they  spent 
their  time  in  tattling. 

One  day  Red  Iron  and  two  or  three  leading  men 
appeared  at  the  agent's  office,  and  requested  a  pass  to 
go  down  to  the  fort  on  the  Little  Blue.  Red  Iron  said 
that  he  had  heard  that  the  conditions  of  the  surrender 
to  Colonel  Greene  had  been  violated  and  he  wanted  to 
go  and  see  that  officer.  Harkins  granted  him  permis 
sion  and  the  chief  started  forthwith. 

The  morning  that  Red  Iron  came  to  Harkins's 
office,  was  just  three  days  after  the  Lieutenant  had  ap 
peared  at  Badger's  tent.  The  agencies  were  two  hun 
dred  and  fifty  miles  apart.  Badger  had  sent  a  runner 
and  he  had  traveled  that  distance  on  foot.  When  the 
runner  arrived  at  Red  Iron's  tent,  he  was  so  much 
exhausted  that  he  fell  at  the  door  as  he  stooped  to 
come  in.  The  long  journey  to  the  fort  on  the  Little 


COLONEL  GKEENE  DISGRACED.         223 

Blue  was  made  by  the  chiefs  on  foot,  and  when  they 
arrived,  they  found  that  Colonel  Greene  was  absent. 
They  waited  ten  datys  for  his  return. 

When  Colonel  Greene  was  informed  of  their  pres 
ence,  he  said, 

"  I  never  was  in  such  a  humiliating  position  in.  my 
life.  I  don't  see  how  I  can  meet  this  old  chief  or  even 
look  him  in  the  face." 

However,  a  council  was  arranged  and  the  two  men 
came  together.  Red  Iron  spoke  as  follows  : 

"When  I  came  in  from  the  Arickoree  to  make 
peace,  I  did  it  because  I  thought  it  would  be  best  for 
my  people.  I  then  had  with  me  a  large  number  of 
warriors.  They  were  all  well  armed  and  we  had  many 
horses.  I  could  have  carried  on  the  war  for  a  long 
time.  We  did  not  make  peace  because  we  were  con 
quered.  In  doing  so,  I  stipulated,  first  of  all,  that 
none  of  my  people  should  be  killed.  I  was  particular 
to  mention  Badger  and  his  band,  for  he  had  had  a  fight 
with  the  soldiers  and  killed  a  great  many.  You  prom 
ised  me  that  their  lives  should  all  be  spared,  that  not 
one  of  them  should  be  hurt.  Now,  I  have  heard  that 
you  have  arrested  Badger  and  four  others  and  sent 
them  across  the  river,  where  the  white  people  are  going 
to  hang  them.  Worst  of  all  is,  you  have  charged  them 
with  killing  some  people  in  a  stage-coach,  and  they  did 
not  do  it.  All  this  is  a  direct  violation  of  the  promise 
you  made  to  me  when  we  surrendered.  I  have  come 
to  talk  to  you  about  it.  I  want  to  save  the  life  of  Bad 
ger  and  the  others  whom  you  have  arrested.  I  want 
you  to  keep  your  promise.  I  am  as  a  prisoner  now.  I 


22-1  COLONEL    GEEENE   DISGRACED. 

cannot  go  to  war  to  avenge  this  wrong.  My  young 
men  have  no  arms.  We  have  no  horses.  We  are  per 
fectly  helpless.  You  can  arrest  ns  and  hang  us  all,  and 
we  cannot  resist.  I  believed  what  you  said.  I  trusted 
in  your  word,  and  I  gave  up  all  my  amis  and  horses. 
I  have  come  to  ask  you  to  keep  your  word." 

Colonel  Greene  had  felt  humiliated  before ;  now  he 
felt  disgraced  and  dishonored.  What  reply  could  he 
make  ?  What  could  an  honorable  man  do  under  such 
circumstances  ?  He  bowed  his  head  in  his  hands  and 
Siit  in  silence.  At  last  he  replied  (Jack  had  returned 
with  him,  and  was  acting  as  interpreter)  as  follows  : 

"  What  you  have  said  is  true.  Every  word  you 
have  spoken  is  true.  When  I  made  you  that  promise 
I  expected  it  would  be  kept.  It  is  like  this :  if  you 
sent  your  head  warrior  out  to  light  with  another  tribe, 
and  tell  him  if  they  desired  to  surrender  to  him  that  he 
might  promise  that  you  would  treat  them  well,  and 
adopt  them  into  your  tribe,  and  he  should  go  and  make 
such  terms  with  them ;  and  when  they  were  brought 
into  your  camp  you  should  change  your  mind  and  kill 
them  all,  the  head  warrior  would  not  be  to  blame.  That 
is  just  the  way  it  was  with  me." 

"  But  no  Indian  would  do  such  a  thing  as  that,"  said 
Red  Iron.  "  If  I  sent  my  head  warrior  out  to  make  a 
promise,  1  would  keep  it." 

"  Jack,"  said  the  Colonel,  "  you  know  how  all  this 
came  about.  I  wish  you  would  explain  it  to  him  fully." 

"  It's  no  use,"  said  Jack  ;  u  you  can't  never  make  an 
Injun  understand  why,  when  the  Government,  through 
its  officers,  makes  a  promise,  that  that  promise  should 


COLONEL    GREENE    DISGRACED.  225 

not  be  kept.  This  is  the  way  he  thinks  about  it.  Bad 
ger  surrendered,  and  did  everything  he  promised.  He 
was  living  peaceably  on  his  reservation  with  his  family. 
All  at  once  the  soldiers  come  and  arrest  him,  and  take 
him  off  and  hang  him.  You  are  the  head  soldier,  and 
you  give  the  orders.  If  you  did  not  want  Badger  hung, 
you  should  not  give  the  orders." 

"  Does  the  Great  Father  know  about  this?"  asked 
Red  Iron. 

"  I  don't  think  he  does,"  said  Colonel  Greene. 

"  Then  why  don't  you  write  a  letter  and  tell  him  ?" 

"  There  it  is  again,"  said  Jack.  "  How  do  you  sup 
pose  that  I  can  make  him  understand  that  the  Presi 
dent  can't  interfere  with  the  process  of  the  courts  and 
the  verdicts  of  juries  ?  I  tell  you  it  can't  be  explained 
to  him." 

"  Tell  him,"  said  Colonel  Greene,  "  that  there  are 
millions  of  white  people,  and  every  day  there  are  a 
great  many  men  tried  in  the  courts,  and  it  would  be  ut 
terly  impossible  for  the  Great  Father  to  look  into  all 
these  cases,  and  it  must  be  left  to  the  courts." 

"  How  do  you  suppose  I  can  tell  him  that  ?"  said 
Jack.  "  In  the  first  place,  there  is  no  word  in  the 
Indian  language  for  <  million.'  They  can  only  count  as 
high  as  ten  thousand  with  certainty,  and  a  hundred 
thousand  is  the  uttermost  limit  of  their  enumeration, 
and  in  the  second  place  there  is  no  word  for  '  court.' 
He  don't  know  anything  about  courts." 

"  Well,  what  does  he  know  ?" 

"  He  knows  as  much  about  the  eternal  principles  of 
10* 


226          COLONEL  GKEENE  DISGRACED. 

right  and  wrong  as   any  man,  and  he   knows  when  a 
promise  is  broken  and  when  it  is  kept." 

"  Well,  can't  yon  tell  him  in  some  simple  way  that 
I  am  his  friend,  and  that  I  have  done  all  that  I  conld 
to  have  the  terms  of  the  surrender  kept  sacred." 

"  Yes,  I  can  tell  him  that,"  said  Jack,  and  he  inter 
preted  it  to  Ked  Iron. 

"  He  is  a  great  chief,"  said  Red  Iron.  "  He  told 
me  that  all  the  soldiers  in  this  part  of  the  country  had 
to  obey  his  orders.  He  told  me  that  he  had  authority 
to  make  the  conditions  of  the  surrender,  and  that  the 
Great  Father  would  do  what  he  promised.  Ask  him  if 
he  did  not  tell  me  that  ?" 

"  I  did,"  said  Colonel  Greene. 

"Now,  then,  he  tells  me  that  somebody  has  more 
authority  than  he  has,  and  that  they  ordered  him  to 
have  Badger  hung.  If  he  is  my  friend  why  did  he  not 
tell  me  that  there  was  a  man  somewhere  who  could 
issue  orders  that  he  would  have  to  obey  ?" 

"  Can  you  explain  to  him,"  asked  Colonel  Greene, 
of  Jack,  "  how  that,  as  long  as  I  held  them  as  prisoners 
of  war,  I  could  see  that  my  promise  was  kept,  but  when 
the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  took  charge  of  them,  they 
passed  under  the  control  of  another  department  of  the 
Government,  over  which  the  military  have  no  control  ?" 
"  Now,  Colonel,"  said  Jack,  "  there  ain't  more  than 
five  hundred  white  men  in  the  United  States  who 
understand  the  relations  existing  between  the  Interior 
and  War  Departments  in  regard  to  Indians,  and  I  am 
not  one  of  that  five  hundred.  How  can  I  explain  to 
an  Injun  what  I  have  been  trying  to  understand  for 


COLONEL     GKEENE    DISGBACED.  227 

ten  years  myself  and  never  could  find  head  nor  tail  to 
it.  I'll  do  my  best  to  interpret  anything  you  have  to 
say,  but  I've  got  nothing  to  say  myself  on  that  subject. 
I  give  you  warning  though,  before  you  commence,  that 
there  ain't  no  words  in  the  Injun  language  for  such 
things  as  departments  of  government,  secretaries  of  war 
and  the  interior." 

"  I  guess  it  can't  be  done." 

"No,  I  said  it  couldn't  in  the  first  place.  This 
Injun  will  always  think  you  broke  your  promise,  and  I 
can't  help  it." 

This  ended  the  council.  The  next  day  the  chiefs 
started  back  to  their  reservation  and  Jack  accompanied 
them.  One  of  the  chiefs  who  was  with  Red  Iron  was 
Badger's  brother.  All  hope  seemed  to  have  died 
within  his  bosom.  He  longed  very  much  to  make  a 
personal  plea  for  his  brother's  life  to  Colonel  Greene, 
but  the  formalities  of  a  council,  according  to  an  Indian's 
idea  of  etiquette,  forbade  it.  If  he  could  have  spoken 
English  he  would  have  gone  to  Colonel  Greene  privately, 
but  to  plead  for  his  brother's  life  through  an  interpreter 
he  could  never  do.  When  this  fact  became  known, 
some  of  the  officers,  who  had  great  sympathy  for  all  of 
of  them,  collected  a  little  sum  of  money  and  gave  it  to 
them.  They  also  met  at  the  fort  another  band  of 
Indians  who  made  them  presents  of  horses,  and  so  Jack 
and  the  chiefs  returned  on  horseback. 


228  AN   AGENCY    SCHOOL. 

CHAPTEK  XXVIII. 

AN    AGENCY    SCHOOL. 


S  day  after  day  passed  away,  Jennie  Walker 
grew  more  and  more  anxious.  She  would 
go  to  the  post-office  the  moment  she  saw 
the  stage  coming  and  wait  until  the  mail 
was  opened  and  delivered.  For  a  while  she  got  let 
ters  about  twice  a  week,  and  then  they  ceased  to  come 
at  all. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Park  man  were  getting  ready  to  go  to 
the  new  reservation  as  missionaries.  One  afternoon 
Jennie  put  on  her  hat  and  went  to  the  Causeland  House 
and  asked  for  Mr.  Harkins.  When  that  gentleman 
came  into  the  parlor  she  made  application  to  him  for 
the  position  of  teacher  on  the  reserve,  and  referred  him 
to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Parkman  as  to  her  character  and  quali 
fications.  Mr.  Harkins  was  very  favorably  impressed 
with  her,  but  wondered  much  why  a  young  lady  of  her 
appearance  should  desire  to  go  and  live  on  an  Indian 
reserve,  and  asked  her  what  her  motives  were  in  desir 
ing  to  undertake  such  difficult  and  dangerous  work. 

"  I  have  felt  it  my  duty,"  she  said.  "  to  become  a 
missionary,  and  I  think  it  is  our  duty  to  teach  the  way 
of  salvation  first  to  the  heathen  in  our  own  land." 

"That  is  so,"  said  Harkins.  "I  have  of  ten  won 
dered  why  it  was,  that  the  churches  sent  missionaries 
away  off  to  the  South  Sea  Hands,  to  Africa  and  India, 


AN    AGENCY    SCHOOL.  229 

while  the  Indians  were  almost  entirely  neglected.  I 
will  see  Mr.  Parkman  and  let  you  know  in  a  day  or 
two." 

When  Mr.  Parkman  was  ready  to  start  Jennie  went 
along. 

In  constructing  the  buildings  at  the  agency  no 
school-house  was  built.  The  treaty  said  that  the  money 
should  be  expended  under  the  direction  of  the  Secre 
tary  of  the  Interior,  but  the  orders  to  Harking  came 
from  the  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  and  he  set 
apart  no  money  for  a  school  house.  The  missionary 
and  his  family  did  not  have  a  house  built  for  them  by 
the  government.  Mr.  Parkman  had  a  salary  of  five 
hundred  dollars  a  year  paid  to  him  by  the  Missionary 
Society,  and  out  of  that  he  could  not  build  himself  a 
nice  house  like  the  agency  employees  had  provided  for 
them.  He  had  a  small  tent  and  the  covered  wagon  in 
which  he  had  moved,  and  in  these  he  lived.  The  In 
dians  often  wondered  why  it  was  that  the  man  who 
came  to  teach  them  about  God  did  not  have  a  nice 
house  like  the  other  white  people.  One  day  Red  Iron 
came  to  the  little  tent.  Jack  was  along  with  him,  and 
he  had  a  pony  pretty  well  ladened.  He  unpacked 
the  pony  and  then  called  to  some  Indian  women  near 
by.  After  he  had  spoken  a  few  words  to  them,  they 
untied  the  bundle,  separated  the  poles  and  set  up  a 
nice  large  tent.  Then  he  said  to  Mrs.  Parkman, 

"  I  have  brought  you  a  big  tent,  one  that  it  will  be 
nice  for  you  to  live  in.  The  one  you  have  is  too  little." 

The  tears  came  into  Mrs.  Parkman's  eyes,  and  she 
said: 


230  AN    AGENCY    SCHOOL. 

"  Red  Iron,  I  don't  see  why  yon  do  this  act  of 
kindness  to  us.  After  all  the  white  people  have  done 
to  you  I  should  think  yon  would  hate  us." 

"I  know,"  he  said,  "that  there  are  good  white 
people  as  well  as  bad  ones.  You  came  here  to  do  us 
good.  You  did  not  come  because  you  would  have  a 
fine  house  to  live  in,"  and  then  he  went  away. 

Mr.  Parkman  was  hard  at  work  in  the  woods 
cutting  logs  to  build  him  a  house.  The  Indians  watched 
him  with  a  great  deal  of  curiosity,  and  sometimes  they 
would  take  an  axe  and  try  to  chop,  but  they  made  poor 
work  of  it.  There  was  one  young  Indian  who  went 
with  him  nearly  every  day.  His  name  was  Gray  Cloud. 
Little  by  little  he  learned  to  handle  tools,  and  when  the 
agent  let  Mr.  Parkman  have  the  agency  team  to  haul 
the  logs  to  build  his  house,  he  was  of  great  assistance. 
It  took  Mr.  Parkman  several  weeks  to  build  his  house. 
"When  finished,  it  was  twenty-four  feet  long,  sixteen 
feet  wide,  had  two  rooms,  and  was  covered  with  dirt. 

Meantime  Jennie  had  made  a  school-house  out  of 
Red  Iron's  big  tent.  She  did  not  have  a  book,  slate, 
desk,  map  or  any  appliance  whatever  for  teaching.  She 
could  not  understand  one  word  the  children  said,  they 
could  not  understand  her,  and  she  had  no  interpreter. 
She  told  Jack  to  tell  Red  Iron  that  die  wanted  some 
of  the  children  to  come  and  she  would  teach  them  how 
to  read.  The  next  day  about  a  dozen  carne,  accompan 
ied  either  by  their  fathers  or  mothers.  One  of  the 
first  things  Harkins  did  when  he  arrived  there,  was  to 
make  estimates  for  the  school-house,  furniture  and 
books,  and  he  had  written  repeatedly  to  the  Commis- 


AN     AGENCY     SCHOOL.  231 

sioner  urging  that  they  be  sent  on,  but  he  never  made 
any  reply.  Jennie  asked  him  to  have  a  blackboard 
made  for  her,  and  the  carpenter  made  one.  This  was 
fastened  to  two  sticks  stuck  in  the  ground.  Jennie 
hunted  up  and  down  the  bank  of  the  river  until  she 
found  some  soft  red  stone,  called  "  keel,"  and  this  she 
used  in  place  of  chalk. 

The  children  came  into  the  tent ;  all  sat  down  on  the 
ground  in  Indian  style,  and  the  first  school  on  the 
reservation  was  opened. 

Jennie  made  a  picture,  on  the  blackboard,  of  a  horse. 
She  pointed  to  it  and  said,  "  What  is  it  ?  "  The  children 
were  all  silent.  Then  she  put  her  fingers  to  her  lips 
and  said  again,  "  What  is  it?" 

One  bright  little  girl  said,  timidly,  "  Shonga." 

Jennie  did  not  catch  the  word  exactly,  and  said, 
"  Shonnee." 

The  children  looked  bewildered.  Then  she  pointed 
to  the  picture  again,  and  a  boy  said  out  strong  and  loud, 
«  Shon-ga !" 

Jennie  pronounced  the  word  just  as  he  did,  and 
three  or  four  of  the  larger  boys  said — there  are  no  Eng 
lish  letters  which  will  spell  it  phonetically,  but  it  is 
usually  written  "  how  " — being  their  way  of  signifying 
their  approval  or  assent  to  what  is  said.  Then  Jennie 
said  it  and  they  said  it  two  or  three  times  over.  After 
that  exercise  was  over  she  pointed  to  the  picture  again, 
and  said  "  horse." 

There  being  no  sound  of  "  r  "  in  their  language,  this 
word  was  too  hard  for  them  ;  several  tried  it,  but  did  not 
get  it  right. 


232  AN     AGENCY    SCHOOL. 

While  tins  was  going  on,  a  little  fellow  unseen  by 
Jennie  Lad  crawled  out  under  the  edge  of  the  tent. 
He  came  in  with  a  handful  of  sugar.  Jennie  was  some 
what  surprised  when  she  saw  him,  and  was  just  going 
to  say  to  him  that  he  must  not  go  out  again  without 
permission,  when  she  thought  "  Why,  he  can't  under 
stand/' 

The  little  boy  came  up  to  her  and  pointed  to  the 
sugar  in  his  hand,  and  said,  "Shonnee."  Then  he  pointed 
the  picture  on  the  blackboard,  and  said,  "  Shonga." 

At  first  Jennie  could  not  imagine  what  he  meant. 
All  at  once  she  thought,  "  Why, '  Shonnee  '  is  sugar,  and 
*  Shonga  '  is  horse." 

Then  she  said  "  sugar."  They  tried  that,  but  there 
was  another  "  r,"  and  they  could  not  get  it  quite  right. 

An  Indian  was  sitting  by  the  tent  door,  filling  his 
pipe.  Jennie  went  up  to  him  and  took  up  a  small  bit 
of  the  tobacco  and  held  it  up.  They  all  said  "  nee- 
nee."  Then  she  said  "  tobacco."  To  her  surprise  they 
pronounced  that  long  word  perfectly  correct.  There 
wTas  no  sound  in  it  which  was  not  in  their  own 
language.  Thus  the  lesson  went  on  for  two  hours. 
Then  Jennie  sang  a  Sunday-school  hymn,  which  very 
much  pleased  the  children.  At  the  close  of  the  hymn 
she  looked  down  on  the  group  of  little,  anxious, 
upturned  faces,  and  thought  how  they  were  shut  out 
from  all  the  knowledge  which  had  made  her  race  rich 
and  happy,  and  tears  came  into  her  eyes.  In  a 
moment  more  she  kneeled  down,  clasped  her  hands 
over  Her  bosom,  and  prayed.  That  prayer  was  full  of 
all  the  loving  and  tender  sympathy  of  woman. 


THE    MIGHTY    MONARCH.  233 

Although  the  children  could  not  understand  a  word 
they  whispered  to  one  another,  "  She  is  talking  to 
God." 

When  the  children  went  home  they  had  many 
wonderful  things  to  tell  their  mothers  about  the  white 
teacher. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

THE    MIGHTY    MONARCH. 

ILMOT  was  a  strict  believer  in  the  maxim 
"  Better  travel  a  thousand  miles  than  write 
a  letter ;"  but  lie  could  not  always  follow 
it  out.  In  working  out  his  plans  to  convict 
this  ring  of  thieves  it  was  necessary  that  he  should  keep 
up  a  correspondence  with  Harkins.  So  he  arranged  a 
cipher  to  be  used  between  them,  thinking  that  if  any 
member  of  the  ring  should  happen  to  intercept  one  or 
more  of  the  letters,  they  would  be  none  the  wiser. 

In  an  ordinarily  friendly  letter  Wilmot  inclosed  a 
small  slip,  on  which  the  following  words  were  written : 
"  Fosse  bypath  privately  messuage  abacuses  corrector 
anemography  accouple  offenseless  allege  expensiveness 
toadies  data,  withdrawment  nankeens  offenseless  par- 
vanu  toadies  whortleberry  moneysworth  washdown  pain 
ful,  amphribology  offenseless  annular  anemography  ra 
tionality  soapstone  faring  recent.  Statement  quan 
daries.  Maladministration  carelessness  inspirable  of 


234  THE    MIGHTY    MONARCH. 

fenseless  suggestion,  (jogged,  flow,  been  anemography 
porphybitic.  Repository  firth  indict  offenseless  fraud 
ulent.'' 

The  post-office  is  always  located  in  the  trader's  store 
at  every  agency.  Sometimes  he  is  a  regularly  appointed 
Postmaster  and  sometimes  he  is  not,  the  letters  being 
directed  to  the  nearest  post-office,  and  forwarded  there 
for  distribution  to  the  employees.  Parker  had  been 
suspicious  of  Ilarkins  from  the  first,  and  he  had  kept  a 
sharp  look-out  from  the  time  he  had  opened  his  store. 
He  had  a  little  round  piece  of  wood,  which  he  could  in 
sert  under  the  sealed  edge  of  an  envelope,  and  by  roll 
ing  it  along  he  could  open  almost  any  letter  without 
mutilating  it  in  the  least.  Then  by  applying  a  little 
mucilage  he  could  seal  it  up,  and  no  one  would  ever 
suspect  it  had  been  tampered  with.  He  applied  his 
"  little  joker,"  as  he  called  it,  to  Wilmot's  letter,  and 
discovered  the  slip  with  the  cipher  message  upon  it. 
He  copied  the  words  very  carefully,  and  then  sealed  up 
the  letter  again. 

Up  to  this  time  Harkins  had  not  discovered  even  an 
indication  of  fraud.  It  is  true  that  the  construction  of 
the  agency  buildings  had  cost  more  than  he  thought 
they  ought  to,  but  the  contracts  which  had  been  made 
were  earned  out  to  the  letter.  The  flour,  beef, 
pork,  sugar,  coffee,  in  fact  everything,  had  been  of  fair 
quality.  Harkins  began  to  think  that  "Wilmot  had  been 
mistaken,  and  an  agent  of  the  department  had  only 
been  testing  him,  by  the  propositions  which  were  made 
to  him,  to  see  if  he  was  honest,  when  one  day  the  cattle 
fur  beef  did  not  arrive.  The  consequence  was  that  sev- 


THE     MIGHTV     MONARCH.  235 

eral  thousand  Indians  were  left  almost  without  food. 
They  had  no  way  to  procure  food  for  themselves,  for 
an  agency  Indian  is  entirely  dependent  on  the  Govern 
ment.  There  was  no  game  in  the  reservation,  and  they 
had  no  arms  or  ammunition  to  hunt  with  if  there  had 
been.  To  stop  the  rations  for  one  day  only  was  to  leave 
men,  women  and  children  without  food. 

Harkins  sent  out  scouts  to  find  where  the  herd  was. 
They  came  back  after  two  days'  absence  and  reported 
that  they  were  sixty  miles  away,  and  traveling  about 
fifteen  miles  a  day.  It  would  take  four  days  for  them 
to  reach  the  agency.  Hungry  men,  women  and  chil 
dren  were  hanging  around  the  agency,  so  hungry  that 
they  stood  around  the  doors  of  the  houses  of  the  white 
employees  and  picked  up  every  bone  and  scrap  that  was 
thrown  out,  and  gnawed  at  it  ravenously.  Sickness 
commenced.  Starvation  always  brings  sickness.  Har 
kins  found  that  the  medical  supplies  were  exhausted. 
He  reprimanded  the  physician  for  not  having  forwarded 
his  estimates  in  time,  but  when  he  came  to  look  over 
his  own  papers  he  found  that  the  estimates  had  long 
since  been  forwarded,  but  only  one  quarter  of  the 
amount  estimated  had  been  contracted  for.  The  Secre 
tary  of  the  Interior  had  exercised  his  "  discretion,"  in 
accordance  with  the  terms  of  the  treaty.  He  thought 
the  estimates  were  too  large  and  had  cut  them  down. 
Harkins  wrote  a  most  urgent  letter  to  the  Commissioner, 
asking  that  medical  supplies  be  sent  immediately.  No 
attention  was  paid  to  it.  He  then  invited  Colonel 
Greene  to  send  a  board  of  army  medical  officers  to  in 
spect  affairs  at  the  agency.  The  surgeons  came  and 


236  THE    MIGHTY    MONARCH. 

made  a  report,  setting  forth  the  extent  of  the  sickness 
and  suffering  for  the  lack  of  medical  supplies,  and  this 
was  forwarded.  Upon  the  receipt  of  this  the  Commis 
sioner,  representing  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  in 
the  exercise  of  his  "  discretion,"  ordered  live  ounces  of 
quinine  to  be  purchased  and  forwarded. 

When  the  beef  cattle  finally  arrived,  a  portion  was 
slaughtered  and  six  days'  rations  were  distributed.  The 
Indians,  being  ravenously  hungry,  ate  the  most  of  it  the 
first  day,  and  at  the  end  of  three  days  had  none  left. 
Three  days  of  starving  ensued,  and  when  the  next  issue 
was  made  the  same  scenes  were  enacted  again.  This 
alternate  gorging  and  starving  produced  still  more  sick 
ness. 

Hark  ins  represented  things  just  as  they  were  in  his 
report  to  the  Commissioner.  The  last  herd  of  cattle 
driven  in  were  almost  gone.  Ilarkins  feared  another 
repetition  of  the  starving  which  he  had  witnessed,  and 
wrote  to  the  Commissioner  urging  that  the  contractors 
be  forced  to  deliver  the  beef  on  time.  In  reply  to  this, 
he  got  a  note  from  the  Commissioner  saying  that  he 
would  do  all  that  was  possible  to  push  the  contractors, 
but  if  they  should  fail  again,  not  to  let  the  Indians  starve, 
but  instruct  the  trader  to  furnish  them  such  things  as 
they  actually  needed  from  the  store,  keeping  an  account 
with  each  head  of  a  family,  and  the  money  could  be 
paid  by  them  when  they  received  their  cash  annuity. 
Not  a  word  was  said  about  the  medical  supplies. 

Ilarkins  sent  Jack  to  Council  Bluffs  with  a  full  re 
port  of  the  state  of  affairs,  and  closed  it  by  saying  that 
he  did  not  believe  they  intended  to  furnish  the  Indians 


THE     MIGHTY     MONARCH.  237 

with  any  more  rations,  except  through  the  trader.  He* 
had  also  discovered  that  a  great  many  of  the  Indians 
had  obtained  firearms  of  the  most  approved  pattern. 
On  inquiry  he  had  found  that  the  guns  had  been  sold 
to  them  on  credit  by  the  trader.  The  trader  had  a 
very  large  stock  of  goods  on  hand. 

The  next  day  after  Jack  left,  an  Indian  inspector 
arrived  at  the  agency.  An  inspector  is  one  of  the  nu 
merous  officers  appointed  by  law  in  the  Indian  service, 
and  is  under  the  control  of  the  Secretary  of  the  In 
terior.  Of  course,  if  he  should  do  anything  displeasing 
to  the  Secretary  he  would  be  instantly  dismissed.  The 
salary  is  a  pretty  liberal  one.  All  of  his  acts  and  reports 
are  in  line  with  the  Secretary's  "  policy." 

Inspector  Brown  held  a  long  consultation  with  the 
trader.  He  then  called  at  Harkins's  office,  and  exam 
ined  his  books  and  accounts.  He  left  the  agency  with 
out  making  any  suggestions  or  giving  any  directions. 
Three  days  after  that  a  company  of  troops  arrived  and 
camped  near  the  trader's  store.  They  were  under  com 
mand  of  Lieutenant  Blake. 

Harkins  called  upon  him,  and  asked  : 

"  Why  did  these  troops  come  here  ?" 

"  They  were  ordered  here,"  said  the  Lieutenant. 

"  How  long  will  they  remain  ?" 

"  Until  they  are  ordered  away." 

"Everything  is  peaceful  here.  What  is  the  object 
of  their  coming  ?" 

"  My  object  was  to  obey  my  instructions." 

That  day  a  detail  was  sent  out,  and  they  made  a 
search  through  all  the  tents  for  arms.  Not  a  gun  was 


238  THE    MIGHTY    MONARCH. 

found.  That  night  several  of  the  soldiers  got  drunk, 
and  made  a  raid  on  a  tent,  captured  two  Indian  girls, 
and  carried  them  off  to  the  woods.  They  were  allowed 
to  return  about  daylight.  Nobody  could  tell  where  the 
soldiers  got  their  whisky.  The  four  soldiers  who  were 
engaged  in  this  outrage  were  arrested  in  the  morning, 
by  order  of  Lieutenant  Blake,  and  each  of  them  tied 
fast  to  a  wagon  wheel,  in  which  position,  with  a  few 
moments  of  intermission  at  a  time,  he  kept  them  for 
four  days. 

This  affair  created  a  great  uproar  among  the  Indians. 
When  the  chiefs  called  on  Lieutenant  Blake  in  regard 
to  the  matter,  he  pointed  to  the  men  tied  to  wagon 
wheels,  and  told  them  that  he  should  take  them  back 
to  the  fort  when  he  went,  where  every  one  of  them 
would  be  shot,  by  order  of  the  Great  Father.  The 
chiefs  thought  that  was  sufficient,  and  were  satisfied. 
The  four  days  tied  to  a  wagon  wheel,  however,  was  all 
the  punishment  they  ever  received. 

A  few  days  after  this,  Inspector  Brown  returned  to 
the  agency.  He  went  direct  to  Ilarkiiis's  house,  and 
summarily  dismissed  him  as  agent,  and  took  charge  of 
the  agency  himself.  Half  an  hour  afterward,  Harkins 
found  himself  under  arrest  by  a  deputy  United  States 
Marshal,  who  had  a  warrant  for  him.  He  was  informed 
that  Brown  had  sworn  out  a  warrant  for  his  arrest,  and 
it  had  been  placed  in  his  hands ;  and  the  Marshal  po 
litely  put  a  pair  of  handcuffs  on  him.  He  had  been 
charged,  on  the  information  filed  by  Brown,  with  steal 
ing  several  hundred  head  of  cattle  belonging  to  the  In 
dians.  Harkins  was  marched  off  to  the  guard-house, 


THE    MIGHTY     MONARCH.  239 

which  he  had  built  himself,  under  orders  from  the  Com 
missioner. 

About  the  middle  of  the  afternoon  of  the  same  day 
Harkins  was  arrested,  Wilmot  and  Jack  arrived. 
Wilmot  was  instantly  arrested. 

Inspector  Brown  read  to  him  an  order  from  the 
Secretary  of  the  Interior,  dated  at  Washington,  and 
duly  signed  by  that  official. 

"  What  crime  am  I  charged  with  ?"  asked  Wilmot. 

"  You  are  not  charged  with  any  crime,"  said  Brown, 
"  but  under  the  Revised  Statutes  of  the  United  States 
the  Secretary  has  the  power,  according  to  law,  to  arrest 
any  person  he  may  choose,  found  upon  an  Indian  reser 
vation.  He  has  directed  your  arrest  if  you  came  upon 
this  reserve,  and  I  am  simply  obeying  orders." 

Two  soldiers,  under  the  command  of  a  corporal, 
marched  Wilmot  off  to  the  guard-house.  He  was 
handcuffed  to  Harkins,  the  door  was  shut  and  bolted, 
and  they  were  left  alone.  There  they  stood  with  the 
irons  upon  them,  looking  into  each  other's  faces.  Before 
they  had  time  to  speak,  a  fiendish  face  appeared  at  the 
little  aperture  which  alone  admitted  light  and  air  to  the 
dungeon.  It  was  Parker,  the  trader. 

In  a  voice  full  of  hatred  and  malice,  he  asked :  „ 

"  How  do  you  like  the  working  of  your  little  plan 
to  send  us  all  to  the  penitentiary  ?" 

Of  course,  Harkins  and  Wilmot,  chained  together  in 
a  cell,  were  furious  with  rage. 

"  I  wonder  whether  this  is  Russia  or  America,"  said 
Wilmot. 


240  WREAKING    VENGEANCE    ON    A    WOMAN. 

They  were  only  suffering  a  just  punishment  for  try 
ing  to  interfere  with  the  u  policy  "  of  that  almighty 
monarch,  the  Secretary  of  the  Inferior. 


CHAPTEK  XXX. 

WREAKING  VENGEANCE  ON  A  WOMAN. 

ILMOT  and  Harkins  were  confined  in  the 
guard-house.  Early  next  morning  Jack's 
face  appeared  at  the  hole  in  the  wall.  Wil- 
mot  and  Harkins  were  walking  up  and  down 
the  cell  chained  together. 

"  What  did  I  tell  you  ?"  said  Jack.  "  Nothing  but 
cold  lead  will  do  for  these  fellows.  Perkins  is  at  the 
bottom  of  the  whole  of  it,  and  I  know  it.  How're 
you  going  to  git  out  ?" 

"  Hang  me  if  I  know,"  said  Harkins.  "  Ask  Wil- 
mot.  He  got  me  in  here  and  he  must  get  me  out." 

"  Jack,"  said  Wilmot,  "  can  you  get  me  some  pa 
per,  pen  and  ink  ?" 

"  Don't  know.  All  the  paper  there  is  around  the 
agency  is  at  the  trader's  store,  and  I  hardly  think  Par 
ker  would  let  me  have  any.  Besides,  if  I  should  under 
take  to  put  anything  in  at  this  hole,  I'd  get  a  bullet 
through  me.  There's  a  guard  out  here  watching." 

"  What  do  you  want  with  paper,  pen  and  ink  ?" 
asked  Harkins. 


WKEAKING    VENGEANCE    ON    A    WOMAN. 

"  I  want  to  write  a  note  to  Dawson,  he's  the  best 
lawyer  in  Council  Bluffs,  and  have  him  sue  out  a  writ 
of  habeas  corpus" 

"  Say,"  said  Jack,  "  I  think  I  know  where  I  can  get 
some  paper.  I'll  bet  Mr.  Parkman  has  some." 

"  Well,  go  and  get  it  quick,"  said  Wilmot. 

Jack  had  four  revolvers  stuck  in  his  belt,  and  car 
ried  in  his  hand  a  repeating  rifle.  He  walked  down  to 
the  trader's  store,  went  in,  bought  a  plug  of  tobacco, 
and  then  walked  out.  Brown  and  Parker  were  stand 
ing  near  the  door,  A  little  to  one  side  there  was  a 
small  ground-squirrel.  It  was  running  around,  stop 
ping  every  moment  or  so,  standing  on  its  hind  feet  and 
looking  about. 

"  See  thar,  stranger,"  said  Jack,  to  Inspector 
Brown.  "  Now  see  me  knock  that  chap's  head  off." 

He  pulled  out  his  revolver,  fired,  and  the  squirrel's 
head  was  gone.  Jack  put  another  cartridge  in  his  pis 
tol  and  walked  away. 

"  That's  a  desperate-looking  ruffian,"  said  Brown. 

"  He  is  the  worst  desperado  on  the  plains,"  said  Par 
ker. 

"  Why  don't  you  get  rid  of  him  ?" 

"  That's  easier  said  than  done,  you  see  how  he  can 
shoot.  Besides  that,  he  is  a  member  of  the  tribe." 

"I  wish  I  had  known  about  him  before  I  came 
back.  I  would  have  got  orders  for  his  arrest  too, 
and  sent  the  military  after  him.  I  always  go  on  the 
principle  of  letting  them  take  the  risks.  That's  what 
they  are  paid  for." 

Jack  went  around  to  the  carpenter-shop,  and  then 
11 


242  WBEAKING    VENGEANCE    ON    A    WOMAN. 

to  the  blacksmith-shop,  giving  them  all  exhibitions  of 
his  skill  with  a  pistol.  Then  he  mounted  a  wild  mus 
tang  pony,  and  rode  at  full  gallop  up  and  down  and 
around  the  agency,  yelling  like  a  demon,  and  tiring  off 
his  pistols.  After  he  got  tired  of  that,  he  called  up  an 
Indian,  gave  his  horse  to  him,  and  told  him  to  lariat  it 
out.  Then  he  went  over  to  Mr.  Parkman's  log-house. 
The  school  had  been  moved  from  the  tent  into  one  of 
the  rooms  of  Mr.  Parkman's  house,  and  there  were  just 
as  many  children  present  as  could  well  be  crowded  in. 

Jennie  was  standing  up  by  her  blackboard,  with  a 
piece  of  "  keel  "  in  her  hand.  There  were  no  pictures 
on  the  board  now,  but  "words."  The  children  had  ad 
vanced  so  that  many  of  them  could  write  small  words 
quite  nicely.  Gray  Cloud  was  there.  He  had  a  small 
blackboard  of  his  own,  but  his  was  covered  with  figures. 
He  had  made  the  board  himself. 

Jack  sat  down  on  the  ground  with  the  children  and 
looked  on.  He  had  not  been  there  many  minutes  un 
til  Jennie  asked  him  if  he  would  please  interpret  for 
her  a  little. 

"  I  have  never  been  able  to  talk  with  them  but 
once,"  she  said,  "  and  then  only  a  few  words.  I  asked 
Mr.  Harkins  to  send  me  the  Government  interpreter, 
and  he  did,  but  he  was  so  rough  and  insulting  to  me  that 
I  never  wanted  him  to  come  again. "  (The  Government 
interpreter  was  a  half-breed,  who  had  been  hired  by 
Harkins  by  the  express  order  of  the  Commissioner,) 

Jack  said  he  would  with  pleasure.  Then  Jennie 
spoke  as  follows : 

"  I  am  so  sorry  I  can't  talk  with  you  every  day  ;  but 


WREAKING    VENGEANCE    ON     A    WOMAN.  243 

I  am  trying  very  hard  to  learn  your  language.  I  can 
speak  a  few  words  now.  I  want  to  tell  you  about 
Jesus.  He  was  God's  son,  and  he  came  into  the  world 
to  teach  us  what  is  right.  He  loved  little  children,  and 
took  them  in  his  arms  and  blessed  them.  He  said  we 
must  love  one  another,  and  do  good  to  one  another.  I 
read  this  in  his  book,  and  that  is  why  I  came  to  teach 
you.  I  love  you  all  very  much,  and  I  want  you  all  to 
be  good.  By  and  by,  when  I  can  talk  to  you  myself,  I 
will  tell  you  more.  I  want  to  talk  to  your  mothers,  and 
tell  them  how  good  you  have  been." 

Jennie  then  dismissed  them,  and  they  went  away 
for  their  two  hours'  recess,  which  she  gave  them  at 
noon.  She  found  that  it  was  necessary  to  have  short 
sessions,  for  they  could  not  endure  too  much  confine 
ment. 

After  the  children  left,  Jack  and  Jennie  went  into 
the  other  room.  Mr.  Parkman  was  seated  at  a  rude 
table,  which  he  had  made  himself.  Several  large  sheets 
of  paper  were  spread  out  on  the  table,  on  which  there 
were  lists  of  words,  some  in  English  and  some  in  the 
Indian  language.  He  was  engaged  in  learning  the  lan 
guage,  and  reducing  it  to  writing.  The  papers  were 
speedily  put  away,  and  the  all-absorbing  topic  of  the  re 
moval  of  the  agent  and  the  imprisonment  of  Wilmot 
was  introduced. 

Jack  told  Mr.  Parkman  that  "Wilmot  wanted  some 
paper  and  pen  and  ink,  to  write  to  a  lawyer  in  Council 
Bluffs  to  get  him  out  of  jail. 

"  But,"  said  he,  "  I  don't  know  how  I  am  to  get  it 
to  him.  Brown  will  never  give  permission  for  him  to 


244:  WKEAKING    VENGEANCE    ON    A    WOMAN. 

write,  and  there  are  two  guards  stationed  there,  and 
you  can- 1  get  it  in  without  one  of  them  seeing." 

Jennie  arose  and  put  on  her  hat. 

"  Where  are  you  going,  my  dear,"  asked  Mrs.  Park- 
man. 

"  I  am  going  to  take  writing  material  to  Mr.  Wil- 
mot,"  she  replied. 

"  How  will  you  do  it  ?"  asked  Jack. 

"  I  don't  know,"  said  Jennie.  "  I  can  only  pray 
that  God  will  help  me." 

She  rolled  up  some  paper,  took  a  pen  and  a  small 
bottle  of  ink,  placed  them  under  her  shawl  and  walked 
out. 

She  went  direct  to  the  guard-house.  A  soldier 
stood  a  short  distance  from  the  little  opening. 

"  Good-day,"  said  Jennie. 

"  Good-day,  mum,"  answered  the  soldier. 

"  Isn't  it  very  tiresome  standing  here  ?" 

"  It's  a  kind  of  duty  we  have  to  do." 

"  How  long  do  you  have  to  stand  here  ?" 

"  Two  hours  on  and  four  hours  off." 

"When  do  you  go  off?" 

"  At  twelve  o'clock.     That's  pretty  soon  uow." 

"  May  I  talk  to  the  men  inside  ?" 

"  Do  you  know  them  ?" 

"  Oh,  yes.     I  know  them  both." 

"  Yes,  you  can  talk  to  them  through  that  hole,  but 
you  must  not  give  them  anything  ;  that's  the  orders." 

"  You  won't  look  at  me  all  the  time,  will  you  ?"  and 
Jennie  smiled  and  blushed. 

"  I  reckon  you  don't  want  me  to  hear  either,  do 


WREAKING    VENGEANCE    ON    A    WOMAN.  245 

you  ?"  said  the  soldier.     Think  a  good  deal  of  them, 
don't  you  ?" 

"  Yes,"  said  Jennie ;  and  then,  in  a  lower  tone, 
"  That  is,  one  of  them." 

The  soldier  laughed  and  said,  "  What  will  you  give 
me  if  I  turn  my  back  f ' 

"  Oh,  I'll  give  you  anything  !" 

"Well,  I  won't  look." 

"  Won't  you  now  P 

"  No,  'pon  honor  I  won't.  If  I  was  in  the  guard 
house,  and  my  girl  came  to  see  me,  I  wouldn't  want 
anybody  to  be  looking.  Now,  see  here,  I'll  go  off  to 
the  other  end  of  my  beat,  and  stay  there  while  you 
talk  to  him." 

Jennie  went  up  to  the  opening.  She  stood  on  her 
toes  and  peeped  in.  There,  sitting  on  the  floor,  hand 
cuffed  together,  were  Wilmot  and  Harkins. 

"  Mr.  Wiirnot,"  said  she,  timidly. 

"  Who's  there  ?"  he  answered. 

"It's  Jennie  Walker.  I  have  brought  you  the 
writing  materials.  Take  them  quickly  and  write  what 
you  want  to.  Don't  stop  to  talk,  for  the  guard  may  in 
terfere.  Don't  say  a  word.  Just  write." 

She  passed  the  paper,  pen  and  ink  inside.  She 
could  not  see  in  without  standing  on  her  tiptoes. 
Near  where  the  soldier  stood  was  a  block  of  wood.  She 
went  and  got  it  to  stand  upon. 

"She  couldn't  quite  kiss  him  standing  on  the 
ground,"  the  soldier  said  to  himself,  but  he  kept  his 
word  and  didn't  look. 

It  didn't  take  Wilmot  long  to  write  what  he  wanted 


246  WKEAKING    VENGEANCE    ON    A    WOMAN. 

to  say  to  Dawson.  He  handed  it  to  Jennie,  and 
said, 

"  Take  that  to  Jack  and  tell  him  to  put  it  into  Daw- 
son's  hands  just  as  soon  as  he  can  get  it  there." 

"  I  will  do  it,"  said  Jennie. 

"  Miss  Walker,  I  hope  we  will  meet  under  more 
favorable  circumstances  before  long." 

"  I  hope  we  may.  I  have  wanted  to  talk  with  you, 
oh !  for  so  long." 

"Have  you?" 

"  Indeed  I  have,  but  I  could  never  get  an  opportu 
nity.  I  wanted  to  apologize  for  the  rude  manner  in 
which  I  treated  you,  just  as  you  were  starting  off  for 
the  Indian  war." 

Wilmot  began  to  wish  that  Harkins  was  in  Halifax 
or  some  other  place,  but  there  he  was,  chained  to  him, 
with  no  chance  to  get  away. 

"  Miss  Walker,"  said  Wilmot,  "  I  will  try  and  see 
you  just  as  soon  as  I  am  released  by  this  writ." 

"  I'd  like  to  know  how  you  are  going  to  see  her," 
said  Harkins,  as  Jennie  walked  away.  "  If  you  come 
out  here,  there's  a  standing  order  of  the  Secretary  of 
the  Interior  to  arrest  you  and  put  you  in  confinement." 

"  That's  so.  I  didn't  think  of  that.  What  an  in 
fernal  thing  this  Indian  system  is  anyhow.  Think  of 
it !  Here  we  are,  two  American  citizens,  chained  to 
gether  in  a  miserable  dungeon,  never  having  committed 
any  crime,  denied  bail.  I  tell  you  what,  Harkins,  this 
whole  thing  is  unconstitutional.  Is  the  Secretary  of 
the  Interior  an  absolute  monarch  \  Can  he  arrest  and 
put  in  chains  any  man  he  sees  n't  2" 


WREAKING    VENGEANCE    ON    A    WOMAN. 

"  Well,  he  lias  seen  fit  to  arrest  and  chain  you  any 
how.  What  are  you  going  to  do  about  it  ?" 

"  I'll  sue  this  Brown  for  fifty  thousand  dollars  for 
false  imprisonment.  I'll  let  them  know  whether  an 
American  citizen,  who  has  never  committed  a  crime, 
can  be  handcuffed  and  imprisoned  without  any  process 
of  law  whatsoever,  at  the  dictate  of  some  individual  in 
Washington.  There  is  not  a  monarchical  government 
in  Europe  to-day  that  can  do  such  a  thing." 

"  I  don't  care  anything  about  the  governments  of 
Europe.  I  want  to  get  this  handcuff  off,  and  out  of 
this  jail.  The  next  time  you  get  me  to  go  into  a  plot 
against  the  Indian  Ring,  you'll  know  it.  I've  had 
enough  of  it." 

As  Jennie  was  going  back  to  Mr.  Parkman's,  she 
met  Inspector  Brown. 

"  You  have  been  up  to  the  guard-house  ?" 

"  Yes,  sir,"  said  Jennie. 

"  Are  you  acquainted  with  Mr.  Wilmot  ?" 

"  Yes,  sir." 

"  How  long  have  you  known  him  ?" 

"  I  have  known  him  since  the  beginning  of  this 
war." 

"  He's  a  friend  of  yours  ?" 

"  Yes,  sir.  He  saved  my  life  at  the  time  Red 
Iron  made  the  raid  on  the  west  side  of  the  river." 

"  Have  you  seen  him  frequently  since  that  time  ?" 

"  Only  once  or  twice."  The  Inspector  passed  on, 
and  no  more  was  said. 

When  Jennie  came  back  to  Mrs.  Parkman's,  Jack 
was  still  there,  and  she  delivered  Mr.  Wil mot's  letter 


248  WREAKING    VENGEANCE    ON    A    WOMAN. 

and  request  that  he  should  take  it  to   Mr.   Dawson 
immediately. 

As  he  was  going  out  she  said  : 

"  Jack,  I  wish  you  would  not  be  so  rough.  See 
how  you  were  riding  around  and  shooting  this  morning. 
You  frighten  people  half  to  death." 

"Were  you  afraid?"  asked  Jack. 

"  No,  because  I  know  }rou,  but  people  who  don't 
know  you  will  think  you're  awful." 

"  If  you  won't  tell  anybody,  I'll  tell  you  why  I  did 
it." 

"I  won't." 

"  Well,  you  see  there  ain't  any  law  or  government  of 
any  kind  here,  and  these  inspectors  and  agents  can  do 
just  as  they  please,  arrest  anybody  they  take  a  notion  to, 
and  keep  'em  in  jail  just  as  long  as  they  want.  I 
knowed  one  feller  an  agent  kept  locked  up  and  chained 
for  nine  months,  and  it  so  worked  on  him  that  he  died 
a  little  while  after  lie  got  away.  The  fact  was,  I  and 
some  other  fellers  made  a  raid  on  the  old  pen  he  was 
shut  up  in,  tore  it  down,  and  let  him  go.  Now,  I  had 
a  sorter  of  an  idea  that  this  'ere  inspector  had  his  eye 
on  me,  and  I  thought  I'd  let  him  know  the  kind  of 
metal  I  was  made  of,  and  what  he  might  expect  if  he 
undertook  that  sort  of  a  job.  I  think  they'll  give  me  a 
wide  berth." 

"  You  wanted  to  scare  them,"  said  Jennie. 

"  That's  just  it,"  said  Jack. 

The  next  day,  Jennie  was  teaching  in  her  school,  as 
usual.  Very  suddenly,  and  very  much  to  her  surprise, 
the  government  interpreter  walked  in.  He  said  a  few 


WREAKING    VENGEANCE    ON    A    WOMAN.  249 

words  to  the  children  in  the  Indian  language,  which 
Jennie  did  not  understand.  They  sprang  to  their  feet, 
and  all  rushed  out  of  the  room,  and  ran  home  as  fast  as 
their  legs  could  carry  them.  He  then  handed  Jennie 
the  following  letter : 

"  Miss  J.  WALKER  : 

"  Your  services  as  teacher  at  this  agency  will  be  no 
longer  required.     Please  call  at  the  office  and  receive 
your  salary,  which  will  be  paid  up  to  last  night. 
"  Yours  truly, 

"J.  YOUNG  BROWN, 
"  United  States  Indian  Inspector  and  Acting  Agent." 

For  a  moment  after  reading  the  letter  Jennie  stood 
speechless,  her  face  as  white  as  snow.  Then  she  burst 
into  a  flood  of  tears,  and  sobbed  and  sobbed  as  if  her 
heart  would  break. 

"  Oh,  my  poor,  dear  little  ones,"  she  said,  "  you  will 
have  no  one  to  teach  you  now." 

She  stood  leaning  her  head  against  the  wall  for  a  long 
time,  weeping  most  bitterly.  At  last  Mr.  Parkman 
came  in. 

"  Where  are  the  children  ?  What  is  the  matter  2" 
he  asked. 

"  The  Inspector — "  said  Jennie,  and  then  she  could 
speak  no  more  for  sobs  and  tears. 

"  What  has  the  Inspector  done  ?" 

"  He  has  broken  up  my  school  and  discharged  me." 

"  What  reason  has  he  assigned ;  what  did  he  do  it 
for?" 

11* 


250  WKEAKING    VENGEANCE    ON    A    WOMAN. 

"  I  don't  know.     Here  is  his  letter." 

Mr.  Parkman  read  the  letter. 

"  This  is  very  strange,"  said  he. 

"I  don't  know  what  I  have  done,"  said  Jennie. 
She  sat  down  on  a  little  stool  which  Gray  Cloud  had 
made  for  her,  and  sobbed  as  if  her  heart  would  break. 

Presently  they  went  into  the  other  room.  Jennie 
put  her  arms  around  Mrs.  Parkman's  neck,  and  tears 
streamed  down  over  both  of  their  faces  in  silence.  Pres 
ently  Mrs.  Parkman  reached  out  her  hand,  took  up  a 
well-worn  pocket  Bible,  and  read : 

"  Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled ;  ye  believe  in  God, 
believe  also  in  me." 

"  And  God  shall  wipe  away  all  tears  from  their  eyes, 
and  there  shall  be  no  more  death,  neither  sorrow  nor 
crying,  neither  shall  there  be  any  more  pain." 

"  Though  I  walk  through  the  valley  of  the  shadow 
of  death,  I  will  fear  no  evil,  for  thon  art  with  me." 

After  reading  these  words  it  was  silent  for  some 
minutes  in  the  missionaries'  room.  Mrs.  Parkman  be 
gan  to  sing.  How  many  weary,  heart-broken  ones  have 
found  relief  in  sacred  song !  These  were  the  words  : 

"  Though  troubles  assail  and  dangers  affright, 
Though  friends  should  all  fail  and  foes  all  unite  ; 
Yet  one  thing  secures  us,  whatever  betide, 
The  promise  assures  us  the  Lord  will  provide." 

Again  it  was  silent.  Finally  Jennie's  sobs  ceased. 
She  raised  her  head.  A  calm  and  heavenly  look  had 
come  into  her  face.  She  sang  in  her  clear,  pure  voice  : 


WKEAKINGr     VENGEANCE    ON    A    WOMAN.  251 

"  There  is  an  hour  of  peaceful  rest 
To  mourning  wand'rers  given  ; 
There  is  a  joy  for  souls  distressed, 
A  balm  for  every  wounded  breast — 
'Tis  found  above  in  heaven. 

'*  There  is  a  home  for  weary  souls 

By  sin  and  sorrow  driven, 
When  tossed  on  life's  tempestuous  shoals, 
Where  storms  arise  and  ocean  rolls. 

And  all  is  drear  but  heaven." 

As  Jennie  sang,  a  look  of  joy  and  triumph  came 
over  her.  Timid,  weak  and  cowardly  as  she  was  by  na 
ture,  she  would  at  that  moment  have  walked  to  the 
stake  and  burned,  and  have  counted  it  a  joy,  if  by  that 
means  she  could  have  brought  the  Gospel  to  these  In 
dians.  The  fear  of  death  had  been  taken  away.  From 
this  hour  she  was  ready  to  suffer  all  things  and  endure 
all  things.  Whatever  men  may  think,  whatever  ex 
planation  they  may  give,  the  fact  cannot  be  disputed, 
that  many  missionaries,  very  cowardly  and  timid  by  na 
ture,  live  always  in  this  state  of  mind,  and  meet  death 
with  a  calmness,  fortitude  and  courage  not  excelled  by 
those  whom  we  denominate  the  bravest  of  the  brave. 

It  was  decided  that  Jennie  should  remain  with  Mr. 
Parkman.  He  would  write  to  the  missionary  board, 
represent  her  case,  and  request  that  she  be  appointed 
and  paid  as  a  missionary. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

JACK'S     STRATAGEM. 

HE  next  morning  dawned  on  the  agency  as 
many  had  before.  The  fanner,  carpenter, 
blacksmith,  miller  and  other  employees  were 
lounging  about  here  and  there,  some  at  the 
trader's  store  and  some  in  other  places.  Nothing  was 
to  be  seen  save  the  dull,  listless,  lazy  life  which  agency 
employees  led.  There  was  nothing  for  anybody  to  do, 
except  the  days  when  rations  were  issued.  During  the 
morning  some  of  them  pitched  quoits,  and  a  party 
were  in  the  back  room  of  the  trader's  store  playing 
cards.  About  eleven  o'clock  two  naked  Indians  (save 
breech-cloth  and  moccasins),  covered  with  perspiration 
and  out  of  breath,  running  at  the  top  of  their  speed, 
rushed  by  the  store  and  up  to  the  agent's  office.  In 
spector  Brown  was  sitting  there  quietly  looking  over 
some  papers.  The  Indians  gesticulated  wildly  and 
talked  rapidly,  but  of  course  he  could  not  understand 
a  word.  He  rushed  out  and  called  for  the  interpreter. 
He  was  nowhere  to  be  found.  After  inquiry  it  was 
learned  that  he  had  gone  off  to  a  camp  about  ten  miles 
away.  An  employee  was  put  on  a  horse  and  started 
after  him.  There  was  great  excitement  among  the 
Indians.  All  who  were  located  to  the  southwest  came 
rushing  to  the  agency.  Many  of  them  began  to  put 
on  their  war-paint.  The  agency  employees  were 


253 

frightened  half  out  of  their  senses,  for  nobody  could 
tell  what  the  matter  was.  Lieutenant  Blake  had  his 
whole  command  under  arms,  and  had  moved  his  train 
to  a  position  on  a  hill  near  by.  It  was  three  o'clock 
when  the  interpreter  returned.  Then  it  was  learned 
that  the  Comanches  were  coining.  Shortly  afterward, 
Indians  on  horseback  could  be  seen  on  the  hill-tops  to 
the  southwest.  An  hour  later  great  volumes  of  smoke 
rolled  up  toward  the  sky  to  the  northeast.  The  prairie 
was  on  lire,  and  the  Indians  had  surrounded  them. 
Lieutenant  Blake  had  taken  the  soldiers  away  who 
were  guarding  Wilinot  and  Harkins,  and  they  were 
left  to  themselves.  He  set  his  men  to  work  throwing 
up  some  slight  earthworks,  and  a  defense  made  of  brush 
and  pieces  of  timber  found  around  the  agency.  When 
night  came,  all  the  white  people,  except  Mr.  Parkman 
and  his  family,  took  refuge  there.  Nothing  was  heard 
or  seen  until  about  midnight,  when  the  prairie  was 
fired  to  the  south.  When  daylight  dawned,  no  Indians 
were  in  sight  except  those  who  belonged  to  the  agency. 
The  white  people  went  back  to  their  houses,  and  then 
it  was  discovered  that  the  guard-house  had  been  broken 
open  and  Wilmot  and  Harkins  were  gone. 

Scouts  were  sent  out  in  all  directions,  but  there  had 
been  so  much  running  around,  it  was  not  possible  to 
discover  any  trail.  The  prairie  had  been  burned  over 
in  the  direction  which  the  Indians  on  horseback  had 
been  seen,  and  so  nothing  could  be  discovered  there. 
An  examination  of  the  guard-house  showed  that  some 
one  had  furnished  the  prisoners  with  a  saw,  and  they 
had  sawed  a  log  out  and  thus  escaped. 


254:  JACK'S  STRATAGEM. 

The  agency  people  had  something  to  talk  about  for 
a  long  time  afterward,  but  no  one  ever  learned  what 
was  the  cause  of  the  disturbance.  It  was  thought 
Gray  Cloud,  who  had  been  a  great  favorite  with  agent 
Harkins,  had  furnished  the  saw. 

The  true  cause  of  all  the  trouble  was  as  follows  : 

When  Jack  left  Mr.  Parkman's,  instead  of  starting 
for  Council  Bluffs  with  the  latter,  he  went  off  to  Red 
Iron's  camp,  which  was  ten  miles  away.  He  did  not 
fancy  riding  back  to  Council  Bluffs,  for  he  had  just 
come  from  there.  He  hadn't  any  faith  in  a  writ  of 
habeas  corpus,  so  he  said  to  himself, 

"  I'll  serve  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus  on  'em  such  as 
no  lawyer  ever  heard  of  before.  I  won't  file  any  pa 
pers,  or  argue  any  motions  before  the  court  either,  but 
I'll  bet  it'll  fetch  'em." 

Arriving  at  Red  Iron's  tent,  he  explained  the  situ 
ation,  telling  him  that  the  inspector  and  trader  would 
steal  every  cent  of  the  money  which  was  coming  from 
the  Great  Father,  unless  Wilmot  and  Harkins  could 
get  away.  If  they  could  they  would  tell  the  Great 
Father  all  about  this  matter,  and  perhaps  he  would  send 
Harkins  back,  or  stop  the  stealing  some  other  way. 

Red  Iron,  who  had  not  forgotten  the  days  without 
rations,  was  willing  to  do  anything  he  could  do,  with 
safety.  So  the  two  plotted  an  Indian  raid,  to  draw  the 
guards  away  and  give  an  opportunity  for  them  to 
escape. 

The  Indians  who  were  seen  on  horseback  were  Red 
Iron's  warriors,  who  were  operating  under  his  instruc 
tions,  and  so  also  were  the  excited  runners  who  came 


255 

into  Brown's  office.  All  but  about  half  a  dozen  Indi 
ans,  however,  really  thought  there  was  a  raid  by  the 
Comanches. 

The  first  thing  that  Wilmot  knew  about  this  plot 
was  when  Jack  appeared  with  a  saw  at  the  opening  in 
the  guard  house. 

"Here,"  said  Jack,  "I've  got  a  writ  of  habeas  cor- 
pus.  You  just  file  it  on  that  log  for  awhile." 

"  I  won't  do  any  thing  of  the  kind,"  said  Wilmot, 
"  I'm  not  going  to  break  jail." 

"  Don't  act  like  a  fool,"  said  Jack. 

"  Here,  give  it  to  me,"  said  Harkins.  "  I've  had 
enough  of  this.  I'm  going  to  get  out  if  I  can.  You 
can  stay  here  if  you  want  to,  but  I  won't." 

"Where's  the  guard  ?"  asked  Wilmot. 

"  Where's  the  guard  !'"  said  Jack.  "  Didn't  you 
know  the  guard  had  gone  ?  Good  heavens,  go  to  work 
there  and  saw  out  that  log,  while  I  watch.  Hain't  you 
heard  that  the  Comanches  are  comin',  and  the 
soldiers  are  all  withdrawn  to  protect  the  trader's  store, 
and  you  have  been  left  in  here  to  be  scalped.  You'll 
have  your  hair  lifted  inside  of  six  hours  if  you  stay  in 
there." 

When  they  heard  this,  Harkins  and  Wilmot  went  to 
work  with  a  will,  and  were  soon  on  the  outside.  Their 
fetters  were  sawn  apart,  they  mounted  the  horses  Jack 
had  in  a  ravine  close  by,  and  rode  away. 


256  A    LEGAL    TANGLB. 

CHAPTEE  XXXII. 

A     LEGAL    TANGLE. 


ILMOT  recognized  the  trnth  of  the  maxim, 
that  "  the  lawyer  who  pleads  his  own  cause 
has  a  fool  for  a  client,"  and  so  he  made  np 
his  mind  that  on  his  arrival  he  would 
engage  Dawson  to  conduct  his  case  for  false  imprison 
ment  against  Brown,  and  he  would  manage  Harkins's 
case  himself.  Harkins,  by  his  advice,  upon  his  arrival, 
went  directly  to  the  magistrate  who  had  issued  the 
warrant  for  his  arrest,  surrendered  to  his  jurisdiction, 
and  gave  bail  in  the  sum  of  five  thousand  dollars  for  his 
appearance  at  the  next  term  of  court.  Wilmot  went  to 
Dawson  and  laid  his  case  before  him. 

"  So  you  want  to  sue  Brown  for  twenty  thousand 
dollars  damages  T  said  Dawson. 

"Yes." 

"  What  court  will  you  bring  your  case  in  ?'* 

"The  United  States  District  Court." 

"  Let  me  see  how  that  will  work.  That  reservation 
is  not  in  this  district. " 

"  What  district  is  it  in  ?" 

"  I'll  have  to  look,"  said  Dawson. 

The  two  lawyers  took  down  the  United  States 
Statutes  at  Large  and  commenced  to  search.  Not  a 
word  was  spoken  for  half  an  hour.  At  last  Dawson 
said: 


A    LEGAL    TANGLE.  257 

"  That  reservation  is  in  the  heart  of  the  Indian 
country,  and  is  not  included  in  the  jurisdiction  of  any 
circuit  or  district  court  of  the  United  States." 

"  I  believe  you  are  right,"  said  Wilmot. 

"  Suppose  we  bring  the  case  in  the  Territorial 
Court?" 

"  You  can't  do  that,  for  Indian  reservations  are 
excluded  from  their  jurisdiction  by  statute." 

"The  United  States  Courts  must  have  jurisdiction," 
said  Wilmot.  "Harkins  was  arrested  on  a  warrant 
issued  by  a  Commissioner  of  the  United  States  District 
Court,  served  by  a  deputy  United  States  marshal.  If 
that  is  so,  the  court  must  have  civil  jurisdiction  also." 

"  I  don't  see  how  a  court  can  have  jurisdiction  out 
side  of  the  boundaries  of  the  district  as  prescribed  by 
law.  I  don't  believe  that  marshal  had  any  authority 
for  arresting  Harkins,  At  least  that  is  the  way  it  looks 
to  me  so  far  as  I  have  examined  it." 

"  You  must  be  wrong,"  said  Wilmot.  "  Congress 
could  never  have  left  millions  of  square  miles  of 
country  without  any  form  of  government,  a  place 
where  men  can  commit  murder  or  any  other  crime,  and 
they  can't  be  arrested  or  tried  in  any  court.  That  sort 
of  a  proposition  will  never  do.  Suppose  I  had  shot  the 
marshal  when  he  attempted  to  arrest  me,  wouldn't  I 
be  guilty  of  crime,  and  do  you  mean  to  say  I  couldn't 
be  tried  in  any  court  for  it  ?" 

"  I  say  that  is  the  way  it  looks  to  me  as  far  as  I 
have  been  able  to  examine  it.  I  see  this  is  a  very 
knotty  question.  I  will  have  to  take  time  to  look  into 


258  A    LEGAL    TANGLE. 

it.  JSTow  you  go  home,  study  up  your  own  case,  and 
clear  Harkins.  I  will  attend  to  this." 

Five  days  afterward  Wilmot  called  again. 

"  Well,  Dawson,"  said  he,  "  what  have  you  found 
out P 

"I  never  studied  so  hard  in  my  life  as  I  have 
during  the  last  five  days,"  said  Dawson,  "  and  I  am 
about  as  much  in  the  dark  as  I  was  I  commenced. 
That  reservation  is  not  in  the  jurisdiction  of  any 
court,  State,  Territorial  or  United  States.  I've  settled 
that.  A  court  can't  have  jurisdiction  outside  of  the 
limits  prescribed  by  law,  and  that  country  is  not  included 
in  the  limits  of  any  district  or  circuit.  The  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States  has  jurisdiction,  but  you 
can't  commence  such  an  action  in  that  court." 

"  Well,  how  could  they  arrest  Harkins  then  ?" 

"  I  said  before  I  don't  believe  that  they  had  any 
authority  to  arrest  him,  and  you  can  move  to  dismiss 
the  case  on  the  ground  that  the  crime  charged  was  not 
committed  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  court." 

"  But  I  don't  want  to  dismiss  the  case.  I  want  to 
try  it,  and  ventilate  this  whole  business." 

"  Well,  you  needn't  make  the  motion  then,  and  go 
on  and  try  it.  But  I  am  not  done  with  your  case. 
I  am  going  to  look  further.  There  must  be  some 
special  statutes  which  I  have  not  found." 

Three  days  after  this  Dawson  came  into  Wilmot's 
office. 

"  I've  found  it,"  he  said.  "  There  is  a  statute  which 
extends  the  jurisdiction  of  the  United  States  Courts 
over  these  reservations  in  relation  to  specified  crimes, 


A    LEGAL    TANGLE.  259 

and  Harkins's  case  comes  under  it.  It's  a  peculiar  sort 
of  a  tiling." 

"  Peculiar  !"  said  Wilmot.     "  In  what  way  2" 

"  Well,  I've  studied  it  a  good  deal.  You  can  arrest 
an  Indian  for  a  crime  committed  against  a  white  man, 
but  you  can't  arrest  a  white  man  for  a  crime  committed 
against  an  Indian,  or  an  Indian  for  a  crime  committed 
against  another  Indian,  and  there's  several  other  things 
somewhat  peculiar  about  it.  I've  done  more  reading 
in  the  last  ten  days  than  in  a  year  before,  and  the  more 
I  look  into  this  legislation  affecting  Indians,  and  the 
decisions  which  have  been  rendered  by  the  Supreme 
Court,  the  deeper  I  get  into  the  fog.  Some  of  the  de 
cisions  recognize  them  as  nations.  If  they  are  nations, 
then  our  courts  and  law  officers  have  no  more  right  to 
go  into  their  territory  than  into  Canada.  Then  the  in 
tercourse  law  of  1838  and  other  statutes  passed  since 
that  time,  seem  to  put  them  completely  into  the  juris 
diction  of  the  United  States.  It's  too  big  a  question 
for  me.  I  give  it  up." 

"  You  don't  mean  to  give  up  my  case  ?"  said  Wil 
mot. 

"  No,  not  at  all.  I  can  sue  this  fellow  Brown  for 
twenty  thousand  dollars  damages  for  false  imprison 
ment,  providing  I  can  get  service  on  him.  How  are 
we  going  to  get  service  ?" 

"  By  publication,  if  no  other  way." 

"  Suppose  I  commence  the  suit  in  the  United  States 
District  Court,  and  send  a  deputy  marshal  out  there 
to  the  reservation  to  serve  a  notice,  and  then  make 
notice  by  publication  also." 


260  A    LEGAL    TANGLE. 

"  Go  ahead.  Do  anything  you  like.  You're  run 
ning  the  case." 

"  Will  you  take  my  advice  ?" 
.    "  Of  course  I  will.     What  did  I  engage  you  for  ?" 

"  Well  then,  I  advise  you  to  drop  the  whole  thing. 
This  suit  will. cost  a  good  deal  of  money.  Brown  may 
not  be  worth  a  cent,  arid  if  you  should  get  judgment 
against  him,  what  good  will  it  do  ?  My  opinion  is,  that 
he  will  pay  no  sort  of  attention  to  the  case,  let  it  go  by 
default,  and  here  you  will  be  with  all  the  costs  to  pay 
and  never  get  a  cent.  I  tell  you  you  can't  make  any 
thing  out  of  it. 

"  Dawson,"  said  Wilmot,  "  I  am  an  American  citi 
zen,  free-born,  and  I  thought  I  lived  in  a  free  country, 
under  a  Constitution  which  guarantees  the  liberty  of  all 
men.  Now,  I  have  been  arrested,  imprisoned,  chained 
like  a  felon,  by  the  arbitrary  order  of  one  man,  without 
any  crime  being  charged  against  me  and  without  any 

process  of  law.     I'll  be  d d  if  I  will  stand  it.     Is 

this  Government  a  fraud  ?" 

"  All  that  you  say  is  true,  but  show  me  the  remedy. 
Tell  me  the  process  and  I'll, sue  it  out,  and  fight  it  to 
the  bitter  end." 

"I  say,  sue  him  for  false  imprisonment.  That's 
your  process." 

"  All  right,  if  you  say  so  ;  I'll  make  out  the  papers 
and  file  them  with  the  clerk  of  the  District  Court  to 
morrow  ;  but  I  want  to  read  you  a  few  words  from  a 
decision  of  this  same  judge  before  whom  your  case 
will  come.  He  says  : 

" '  Laws  passed  for  the  government  of  the  Indian 


A    LEGAL    TANGLE.  261 

country,  and  for  the  purpose  of  regulating  trade  and 
intercourse  with  the  Indian  tribes,  confer  upon  certain 
officers  of  the  Government  almost  unlimited  povier 
over  the  persons  who  go  upon  reservations  without 
lawful  authority.  Section  2,149  of  the  lie  vised 
Statutes  authorizes  and  requires  the  Commissioner  of 
Indian  Affairs,  with  tho  approval  of  the  Secretary  of 
the  Interior,  to  remove  from  any  tribal  reservation  any 
person  being  there  without  authority  of  law,  or  whose 
presence  within  the  limits  of  the  reservation  may,  in 
the  judgment  of  tlie  Commissioner,  be  detrimental  to 
the  peace  and  welfare  of  the  Indians.' 

"  Now,  no  person  has  any  legal  right  upon  a  reserva 
tion  but  the  Indians  who  belong  to  the  tribe  and  the 
officers  and  employees  of  the  Government  This  being 
the  case,  the  Commissioner  had  a  legal  right  to  order 
your  arrest." 

"  Which  side  of  this  case  are  you  arguing  anyhow  ?" 
asked  Wilmot.  "I  guess  there  is  some  law  on  the 
other  side.  There's  another  section  of  the  Revised 
Statutes  which  says  that  '  no  person  shall  be  deprived 
of  life,  liberty  or  property  without  due  process  of  law.' 
I  tell  you  that  this  whole  system  of  legislation,  giving 
to  the  Commissioner  or  Secretary  of  the  Interior 
absolute  control  over  the  life,  liberty  and  property  of 
individuals,  is  unconstitutional,  and  if  you  knew  any 
law  at  all,  you'd  know  it." 

"  It's  a  good  thing  that  you  had  sense  enough  not 
to  try  and  manage  this  case  yourself.  You've  got  so 
mad  over  being  arrested  that  you  can't  keep  cool 
enough  to  talk  decent  to  your  own  counsel.  You  act 


262  A    LEGAL    TANGLE. 

just  like  any  other  client  who  wants  to  sue  somebody, 
and  when  the  attorney,  for  the  good  of  the  client, 
points  out  the  difficulties  to  be  met,  he  always  thinks 
the  attorney  is  in  sympathy  with  the  other  side  and 
arguing  against  him." 

"  I  guess  if  you  had  been  arrested,  and  confined  in  a 
dungeon  for  days,  chained  to  another  man,  you  wouldn't 
be  in  a  very  good  humor,  either." 

"  Perhaps  not,  but  if  I  had  employed  an  attorney 
to  manage  a  case,  I'd  let  him  manage  it." 

"  Didn't  I  tell  you  I'd  follow  your  advice  and  for 
you  to  go  ahead  ?" 

"  And  I,  like  an  honest  lawyer,  tell  you,  you  will 
have  the  costs  to  pay,  and  make  nothing  out  of  it." 

"  I  don't  care  if  I  do.     I  want  Brown  sued." 

"  All  right.     I'll  sue  him." 

As  Dawson  passed  out  he  noticed  a  man  standing 
by  the  door  of  the  office.  He  seemed  intently  reading 
a  newspaper.  Dawson  gave  him  a  sharp  look  and 
passed  on.  After  walking  down  the  street  a  short 
distance,  he  turned  and  looked  again.  The  man  still 
stood  there  intently  reading. 

Dawson  was  not  superstitious,  but  he  felt  there  was 
something  wrong  about  that  man.  After  he  got  to  his 
office  he  could  not  drive  him  out  of  his  mind.  Such 
things  as  this  happen  a  great  many  times.  I  don't 
pretend  to  account  for  them,  but  because  I  cannot  ac 
count  for  them,  I  do  not  think  that  a  good  reason  why  I 
should  deny  the  fact,  for  there  are  a  good  many  things 
in  this  world  I  have  never  been  able  to  account  for. 

Dawson  tried  to  drive  this  fellow's  image  out  of  his 


INDIANS    DISCUSSING    THE    WHITES. 

mind,  hut  he  could  not.  At  last  lie  got  out  of  temper 
and  called  himself  a  fool.  Then  he  put  on  his  hat  and 
went  out  to  look  for  the  man.  He  found  him  sitting 
at  a  table  in  the  Empire  House,  writing.  Then  Daw- 
son  got  intensely  interested  in  a  newspaper.  The  man 
went  011  writing.  After  awhile  he  folded  up  his  letter 
and,  just  as  he  finished,  addressing  it,  Dawson  walked 
behind  him  and  passed  out  of  the  door.  On  the  back 
of  that  letter  was  written,  "  Secretary  of  the  Interior, 
Washington,  D.  C." 

Dawson  went  straight  to  Wilmot's  office  and  told 
him  about  the  man  and  what  he  had  seen. 

"  What  does  it  mean  ?"  asked  Wilmot. 

"  It's  beyond  my  comprehension,"  said  Dawson, 
"but  I  want  you  to  keep  a  sharp  look-out  for  this 
fellow.  I'll  see  if  I  can  find  out  who  he  is." 


CHAPTEE  XXXIII. 

INDIANS   DISCUSSING  THE  WHITES. 


FTER  Harkins  and  Wilmot  escaped,  Jack 
spent  his  time  in  the  camp  of  Red  Iron's 
band.  Both  he  and  the  old  chief  seemed 
to  be  in  a  particular  good  humor.  The 
camp  was  on  the  "  second  bottom  "  of  a  little  stream, 
near  by  a  large  grove  of  timber.  The  tents  were 
pitched  in  a  semicircle.  Four  or  five  horses  were 


264  INDIANS    DISCUSSING    THE    WHITES. 

picketed  out.  Large  camp-fires  were  burning  in  several 
places,  and  the  Indians  were  lounging  around,  some  of 
them  asleep  on  the  ground  in  the  open  air,  and  some  in 
the  tents.  In  one  part  a  lot  of  young  fellows  were 
having  a  dance,  the  music  being  made  on  a  rude  drum 
and  by  singing.  Around  Red  Iron's  fire  quite  a  crowd 
had  gathered,  for  the  old  chief  was  in  a  story-telling 
mood.  His  first  story  was  about  a  raid  which  he  made 
on  another  tribe  when  he  was  a  young  man,  when  they 
stole  and  carried  away  over  a  hundred  horses.  Finally 
he  got  on  to  his  favorite  topic  of  what  lie  had  seen 
among  the  white  people  when  he  went  to  Washington. 
He  said  the  white  people  were  always  talking  about 
how  bad  it  was  to  take  scalps,  but  they  were  the  worst 
scalpers  in  the  world.  He  saw  two  or  three  stores  full 
of  scalps  (hair  stores).  They  had  them  hung  up,  two 
or  three  hundred  in  a  window,  and  sold  them  for  so 
much  each. 

"A  great  many  of  the  white  people,"  said  he, 
"  haven't  any  hair,  and  they  buy  these  scalps,  and  wear 
them  on  their  heads.  All  these  scalps  were  scalps  of 
white  people.  I  did  not  see  one  Indian's  scalp.  I  said 
to  the  man  that  I  thought  the  white  people  must  go  to 
war  a  great  deal  against  one  another,  and  then  he  told 
me  that  these  scalps  were  taken  from  the  heads  of 
persons  who  had  died  from  sickness.  Now,  what  do 
you  think  of  that?  No  Indian  who  ever  lived  was 
mean  enough  to  scalp  one  of  his  tribe  who  had  died 
from  sickness.  I  think  in  some  things  the  white 
people  are  the  meanest  people  who  ever  lived.  But 
they  have  got  lots  of  nice  things.  They  build  great  big, 


INDIANS    DISCUSSING    THE    WHITES.  265 

high  houses,  like  one  tent  above  another,  and  then  they 
put  the  prettiest  cloth  you  ever  saw  on  the  floors  to 
walk  on.  They  have  knives  and  forks  and  spoons  made 
out  of  pure  silver  to  eat  with.  But  they  are  the  dirtiest 
people  that  ever  lived.  They  eat  nasty,  slimy  bugs 
(oysters).  These  bugs  grow  in  a  kind  of  a  shell  in  the 
water.  They  are  the  nastiest-looking  things  you  ever 
saw,  and  they  taste  just  as  nasty  as  they  look.  I  tasted 
of  some  once.  They  eat  worms  too.  It's  a  little  white 
worm.  They  put  great  handfuls  of  them  in  a  pot  and 
make  soup  of  them  (vermicelli).  I  asked  a  man  where 
they  got  so  many  of  them,  and  he  said  they  brought 
them  from  across  the  great  water  in  their  big  canoes. 
Everybody  eats  these  worms.  I  saw  the  women  and 
children  eat  them. 

"  They  always  eat  their  meat  raw.  They  don't  cook 
it  at  all,  they  just  make  it  warm,  that's  all.  When 
they  cut  it  up,  the  blood  runs  out  of  it.  Everybody 
knows  that  raw  liver  is  good,  but  just  think  of  eating 
raw  meat! 

"  Then  they  eat  snakes.  They  have  a  great  big 
store,  or  rather  a  great  many  stores  together  in  one 
place,  where  they  sell  all  kinds  of  things  to  eat.  The 
man  took  us  down  there  one  morning  and  I  saw  a 
great  big  box  full  of  snakes  (eels).  They  don't  eat  all 
kinds  of  snakes,  but  just  one  kind.  It  is  a  water  snake. 
They  eat  frogs  too.  I  saw  a  lot  of  frogs  in  that  same 
place.  The  white  people  are  terribly  dirty  and  nasty 
about  some  things. 

"  Their  houses  are  all  like  sweat  houses.  The  first 
thing  they  do  when  they  want  to  build  a  house  is  to  dig 
12 


266  INDIANS  DISCUSSING  THE  WHITES. 

a  big  hole  in  the  ground.  After  they  get  the  house  built 
they  have  some  sort  of  a  place  down  in  that  hole  where 
they  make  a  big  fire  and  the  heat  comes  up  through  a 
hole,  and  it  is  just  like  a  hot  wind  in  the  summer  time. 
They  make  the  house  just  as  hot  as  summer  all  the 
time.  We  used  to  take  off  our  blankets  and  leggins, 
and  sit  there  and  sweat  just  like  as  if  we  were  in  a 
sweat  house.  Then  when  we  went  out-doors  it  made 
it  feel  awful  cold. 

"  I  think  the  sides  of  the  white  people's  houses  must 
be  hollow,  and  filled  with  water,  for  they  have  little 
hollow  pipes  which  come  out  of  them,  with  a  little 
handle.  When  you  want  a  drink  all  you  have  to  do  is 
to  turn  the  handle  and  the  water  runs  out.  I  don't 
see  where  so  much  water  comes  from. 

"  The  white  people  don't  know  anything  about  good 
manners.  I  used  to  think  that  these  people  we  met 
out  here  were  the  worst  ones,  and  that  they  didn't 
know  much,  but  they  are  all  alike.  There  are  none  of 
them  who  know  what  good  manners  is.  If  they  see 
anything  strange,  they  will  stop,  stand  and  look  at  it. 
They  will  stop  and  stare  at  you  when  you  go  along. 

"  When  any  one  comes  to  pay  us  a  visit  we  give  him 
something  to  eat,  and  he  eats  it  all  up.  When  one 
comes  to  visit  them,  they  give  him  something  to  eat, 
and  when  he  eats  it  up  they  give  him  more  and  more 
and  more,  just  as  long  as  he  can  swallow.  It  is  enough 
to  kill  a  man.  One  of  the  Commissioners  invited  me 
to  a  feast  (took  him  to  dine).  The  women  and  men  all 
sat  down  together.  Then  they  brought  some  soup.  It 
Was  warm  soup.  I  told  Shonnee  to  tell  them  I  didn't 


INDIANS    DISCUSSING    THE    WHITES.  267 

like  soup.  Then  they  took  everything  away  and 
brought  fish,  and  then  they  took  everything  away  again 
and  brought  meat.  They  kept  giving  me  meat  until  I 
couldn't  swallow  any  more.  I  didn't  know  what  to  do. 
I  told  Shonnee  to  tell  them  to  stop.  I  was  afraid  they 
would  be  insulted.  They  don't  seem  to  know  how 
much  a  man  can  eat  at  all." 

(Indians  give  to  a  visitor  just  what  they  think  he  can 
eat ;  and  if  he  don't  eat  it  all,  they  take  it  as  a  grave  in 
sult.) 

"  After  that  they  wanted  me  to  eat  a  lot  of  other 
things,  sweet  things,  and  a  kind  of  white  stuff  as  cold 
as  ice  (ice  cream).  Then  they  brought  apples  as  big  as 
your  fist,  and  some  long  yellow  things  and  nuts.  I 
thought  I  should  die.  The  white  people  are  the  worst 
gluttons  in  the  world.  Every  one  of  them  will  eat  more 
than  a  horse." 

(That  was  just  what  the  gentleman  who  took  Red 
Iron  out  to  dine  said  of  him.) 

"  But  the  strangest  thing  of  itall  was  that  they  had 
some  men  to  bring  us  the  things  to  eat.  These  men 
were  perfectly  black,  and  had  short  hair,  not  as  long  as 
my  finger-nail." 

"  Wah,"  said  Little  Duck,  "  don't  tell  us  any  more.| 
Men  perfectly  black!" 

"What  do  you  know?"  said  Standing  Hawk.; 
"  There  are  black  men.  I  saw  one  once  myself." 

Here  a  great  discussion  arose,  some  saying  there 
were  black  men,  and  some  saying  it  was  a  lie,  and  that 
these  men  who  brought  the  things  to  eat  were  painted. 

Little  Duck  said  that  when  he  was  a  young  man  he 
went  to  visit  a  tribe  of  Indians,  who  painted  their  faces 


268  INDIANS    DISCUSSING    THE    WHITES. 

all  black  when  they  went  on  the  war-path,  and  that  the 
white  people  had  learned  this  from  them. 

"  Did  you  see  the  Great  Council  ?"  asked  one  of 
them. 

"  Yes,"  said  Red  Iron.  "  I  went  in  there  two  or 
three  times.  They  have  two  councils,  but  the  Great 
Father  don't  go  there  at  all.  "When  they  do  anything 
they  write  it  in  a  letter  and  send  it  to  the  Great  Father. 
If  he  don't  like  it  he  writes  *  No  '  on  it,  and  then  it  is 
no  good.  They  dare  not  do  anything  the  Great  Father 
don't  like.  I  don't  see  any  use  of  a  council  like  that. 
In  both  councils  there  is  a  sort  of  head  chief,  and  he  sits 
in  a  high  place.  Sometimes  the  chiefs  quarrel  like 
everything.  I  was  in  there  one  day  when  they  were 
quarreling.  The  head  chief  had  a  little  wooden  toma 
hawk,  and  he  pounded  on  a  board  with  it  with  all  his 
might.  After  that  he  made  a  speech.  The  man  said 
he  was  scolding  them.  They  all  sat  down  and  quit 
quarreling." 

"  How  many  chiefs  were  there  ?"  asked  Little  Duck. 

"  They  have  one  little  council  and  one  big  one.  I 
guess  there  are  a  thousand  chiefs  in  both  of  them." 

"  Was  the  Little  Great  Father  there  2"  (Secretary  of 
.the  Interior.) 

"No.  He's  a  bigger  chief  than  those,  and  has  a 
big  council-house  all  by  himself.  These  little  chiefs 
have  to  do  what  he  says.  That  is  what  the  man  told 
me." 

"  Well,  he's  got  to  do  what  the  Great  Father  says." 

"  I  don't  know.  They  told  me  that  the  Great  Fa 
ther  had  so  many  things  to  attend  to  that  he  told  this 


INDIANS    DISCUSSING    THE    WHITES.  269 

man  he  must  attend  to  the  Indians ;  and  that  what 
ever  he  said  the  Great  Father  always  did.  The  Little 
Great  Father  is  a  very  lazy  man,  for  he  does  not  attend 
to  these  matters  at  all.  He  turned  it  all  over  to  an 
other  chief.  That  is  the  man  we  made  the  treaty  with. 
I  think  the  white  people  have  some  very  queer  ways  of 
doing  things." 

Just  here  a  runner  from  the  agency  came  in,  and 
the  old  crier  went  yelling  around  the  camp,  telling  them 
that  there  was  news  to  be  heard  at  Red  Iron's  tent. 
Soon  the  whole  band  assembled.  After  due  formal 
ities  had  been  gone  through  with,  the  runner  said  that 
two  white  men  had  come  to  the  agency  that  afternoon, 
and  the  Inspector  had  arrested  one  of  them  and  put 
him  in  the  guard-house.  The  other  man  went  to 
the  Inspector's  house,  and  seemed  to  be  a  friend  of  his. 
This  one  was  a  minister.  (Of  course  the  Indians  have  no 
word  in  their  language  for  minister,  preacher  or  clergy 
man,  so  they  designate  them  as  umen  who  talk  about 
God,"  or  "  the  men  who  teach  about  God,"  and  some 
times  as  the  "  white  medicine  man.")  The  Inspector 
had  said  that  this  man  was  to  take  the  place  of  Mr. 
Parkman  and  his  wife,  who  were  going  away. 

Upon  the  announcement  of  this  news  a  different 
mood  came  upon  the  Indians.  Some  of  them  said  there 
was  trouble  ahead,  but  no  one  could  guess  what.  One 
by  one  they  went  to  their  tents,  and  silence  reigned  in 
the  Indian  camp. 


270  THE    EXILES. 

CHAPTEK  XXXIY. 

THE    EXILES. 


HE  presence  of  the  two  men  of  whom  the 
runner  brought  news,  at  the  agency,  came 
about  as  follows : 

Dawson  commenced  the  suit,  and  a  Dep 
uty  United  States  Marshal  had  been  sent  to  serve  no 
tice  on  Inspector  Brown.  Brown  had  been  informed 
of  his  coming,  and  stationed  a  guard  some  miles  out  of 
the  agency,  and  the  moment  he  appeared  he  was  ar 
rested,  handcuffed  and  brought  into  the  guard-house. 
"When  he  was  safely  locked  up  he  was  searched,  and  all 
his  papers  taken  away.  Then  Mr.  Brown  called  upon 
him. 

"  I  am  sorry,"  said  he,  "  to  meet  you  under  snch  un 
pleasant  circumstances  ;  but  I  have  ad  opted  a  set  of  rules 
for  the  good  of  the  Indians  on  this  reservation,  which  I 
cannot  suffer,  under  any  circumstances,  to  be  violated. 
One  of  them  is,  that  no  whites  shall  be  allowed  upon  it  ex 
cept  the  employees  of  the  Government.  You  were  found 
within  the  limits  of  the  reservaiton,  and  it  became  my 
painful  duty  to  order  your  arrest." 

"I  am  an  officer,"  said  the  marshal,  "of  the 
United  States  District  Court,  and  came  here  on  official 
business.  I'd  like  to  know  where  you  get  authority  to 
arrest  an  officer  in  the  performance  of  his  duty  in  this 
arbitrary  manner." 


THE    EXILES.  271 

"  I  am  acting  agent  of  this  tiibe.  I  have  control  of 
this  territory.  The  safest  place  for  all  meddlers  is 
outside  of  the  reservation.  I  arrested  the  man  you 
represent,  and  I  will  arrest  any  of  them  who  are  med 
dling  with  matters  which  is  none  of  their  business,  who 
dare  set  foot  inside  of  this  reservation.  Wilmot  broke 
jail  and  got  away.  So  did  that  thief  Harkins,  but  I 
rather  think  you  won't  get  off  quite  so  easy.  Any  man 
who  is  fool  enough  to  be  made  a  tool  of  by  Wilmot, 
must  expect  to  suffer  the  consequences.  I  know  all 
about  your  plans.  I  knew  when  you  started,  the  route 
you  came  by,  just  where  you  entered  the  reservation  and 
what  you  intended  to  do.  The  Government  is  perfectly 
capable  of  taking  care  of  its  own  interests,  and  meddlers 
better  keep  their  hands  off." 

"How  long  do  you  intend  to  imprison  me  here 
without  process  of  law  and  without  cause  ?" 

"  Long  enough  to  make  you  and  your  thieving  set 
understand  that  it  is  not  a  pleasant  business  to  be 
meddling  with  what  don't  concern  them.  If  I  gave  you 
your  just  deserts  I  would  call  in  half  a  dozen  Indians 
and  tell  them  to  swing  you  up  to  the  nearest  tree,  you 
low-lived,  thieving  vagabond  you." 

The  marshal  raised  himself  up  to  his  full  height, 
took  a  step  or  two  forward,  looked  Brown  straight  in 
the  eye,  and  said  : 

"  You  have  got  me  here  a  prisoner,  unarmed  and 
handcuffed.  Of  course  you  can  talk  to  me  just  as 
insultingly  as  you  please,  but,  sir,  no  gentleman,  no,  sir, 
no  one  but  the  most  consummate  coward  would  insult 
and  abuse  an  unarmed  prisoner.  Now  go  on,  say  what 


272  THE    EXILES. 

you  please.  I'll  meet  you  in  the  States  some  day, where 
we  are  on  equal  footing,  and  I'll  make  you  wish  you 
had  never  been  born." 

"  You  will,  will  you  ?  I  heard  chaps  talk  that  way 
before,  but  they  generally  got  very  humble  before  I 
got  through  with  them." 

The  Inspector  went  from  there  to  his  office  and 
wrote  a  short  note  tp  Mr.  Parkman,  inviting  him  to  call 
immediately. 

Mr.  Parkman  went  to  the  In  spector's  office. 

"  I  am  directed  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  to 
inform  you  that  this  reservation,"  said  Brown,  "has 
been  assigned  to  another  denomination,  and  notify  you 
to  leave,  as  a  clergyman  of  the  denomination  to  which 
it  is  assigned  will  take  charge  immediately.  You  will 
therefore  leave  within  five  days." 

Mr.  Parkman  looked  at  the  Inspector  in  astonish 
ment.  He  did  not  say  a  word. 

"  The  '  policy '  of  the  secretary  is  to  make  no  distinc 
tion  between  the  different  sects,  to  treat  them  all  alike, 
and  to  prevent  any  controversy  between  them  about 
their  different  creeds,  modes  of  baptism  and  forms  of 
worship,  which  might  arise  if  different  denominations 
were  allowed  to  propagate  their  beliefs  upon  the  same 
reservation,  he  has  divided  the  Indians  up  between  the 
different  sects,  and  this  tribe  has  fallen  to  another  de 
nomination.  You  will,  therefore,  prepare  to  leave 
immediately.  I  have  thought  that  five  days  would  be 
sufficient  time  for  you  to  prepare  to  leave.  I  therefore 
give  you  official  notice  to  leave  this  reservation  within 
that  time." 


THE    EXILES.  273 

Mr.  Parkman  turned  on  his  heel,  walked  out  of  the 
office  and  made  no  reply.  He  went  back  to  his  little 
cabin,  sat  down  at  his  table  and  wrote  a  letter  to  the 
Secretary  of  the  Missionary  Board.  He  did  not  men 
tion  the  matter  to  Mrs.  Parkman.  This  is  why  he  did 
not  speak  to  her  about  it. 

One  day,  two  Indian  women  were  sitting  under  the 
little  window  of  Mr.  Parkman's  house.  One  of  them 
heard  the  crying  of  a  tiny  baby. 

"  Did  you  hear  that  ?"  said  one. 

"  Yes.  There's  a  little  white  baby  in  there,"  said 
the  other. 

"  Did  you  ever  see  a  white  baby  ?" 

"  No.  Let  us  go  in.  I  wonder  if  they  will  let  us 
see  it «" 

"  Why  wouldn't  they  ?  Do  you  suppose  they  would 
think  wre  would  want  to  hurt  it  ?" 

"  I  don't  know.  White  people  have  such  strange 
ways." 

One  of  the  Indian  women  was  old  and  the  other 
was  under  middle  life.  They  arose,  walked  into  the 
room  and  went  up  to  the  side  of  the  bed.  They  stood 
in  silence  for  a  minute  or  two  and  then  one  made  a 
sign  that  she  wanted  to  hold  the  baby. 

Mrs.  Parkman  turned  down  the  bedclothes  and  the 
Indian  woman  took  the  little  babe  in  her  arms. 

"  It  is  so  white,  and  so  fat,  and  so  pretty,"  she  said. 

"  Just  look  at  its  eyes !  They  are  not  like  our 
babies'  eyes.  See  its  hair !  How  fine  and  soft  it  is. 
Its  hair  is  almost  white,  too." 

"  It  ought  to  be  put  on  a  board.  I  wonder  why 
12* 


274:  THE    EXILES. 

they  haven't  put  it  on  a  board.    I  don't  see  any  board 
around  here." 

"  Don't  you  know,"  said  the  other,  "  that  the  white 
people  don't  put  their  babies  on  a  board  ?" 

"  Oh  !  I  forgot." 

"  See  its  little  feet.     Arn't  they  pretty  ?" 

The  younger  of  the  two  women  pressed  the  baby 
to  her  bosom  and  rocked  herself  to  and  fro.  Mrs. 
Parkman  looked  at  her  and  saw  that  tears  were  in  her 
eyes.  Presently  she  laid  it  down  in  the  bed  and  gently 
covered  it  over,  and  her  tears  fell  on  its  forehead — 
baptizing  it  with  an  Indian  mother's  love. 

She  then  stood  up  by  the  side  of  the  bed  and  held 
up  her  right  hand.  One  finger  was  gone.  Mrs.  Park 
man  did  not  know  what  she  meant.  There  was  no  one 
there  to  explain  the  sad  sign.  The  Indian  woman's 
baby  was  dead.  She  had  loved  it  with  as  tender  a 
devotion  as  any  white  mother  ever  did.  After  it  had 
been  buried  in  the  trees,  in  her  great  grief  she  had  cut 
off  the  finger  in  remembrance  of  it.  Holding  the  little 
white  baby  in  her  arms  brought  it  all  back  to  her,  and 
tears,  just  such  tears  as  white  mothers  shed,  ran  down 
over  her  face. 

The  little  baby  was  only  three  weeks  old  when  the 
Inspector  informed  Mr.  Parkman  that  he  must  leave 
within  five  days,  and  that  is  why  he  said  nothing  to  his 
wife. 

Mr.  Parkman  paid  no  attention  to  the  order  of  the 
Inspector,  and  made  no  preparations  to  leave. 

Around  every  agency  there  always  congregate  the 
very  worst  members  of  the  tribe.  Such  men  as  we 


THE  EXILES.  275 

would  call  tramps,  bummers  or  dead  beats  among  us. 
They  pick  up  a  little  English,  do  little  jobs  for  the 
agent  or  trader,  for  which  they  are  given  small  presents 
of  tobacco,  beads  or  scraps  of  food.  Most  of  them 
would  sell  out  the  whole  tribe  for  a  pair  of  blankets. 
Their  only  aim  seems  to  be  to  keep  in  the  good  graces 
of  the  agent.  They  always  call  him  Major  or  Colonel, 
and  adopt  the  same  system  of  fawning  and  adulation 
which  I  have  noticed  in  office-seekers  at  Washington, 
when  they  approach  a  Congressman,  Senator  or  the 
head  of  a  department.  Nothing  pleases  these  little 
monarchs  of  agents  better  than  that  sort  of  servile 
flattery.  It  is  the  height  of  all  human  glory  to  them. 
These  villainous  Indians  do  not  hesitate  to  execute  any 
order  the  agent  gives.  Many  of  them  would  do  any 
thing  he  would  tell  them  to  do,  even  if  it  were  to  roast 
a  man  alive.  The  trader  generally  has  the  same  sort  of 
a  following. 

"When  the  five  days'  notice  was  up,  Brown  sent  four 
of  these  Indians  to  Mr.  Parkman's  house,  with  orders 
to  hitch  his  horses  to  the  wagon,  put  his  goods  and 
family  in,  and  drive  him  off  the  reservation. 

The  first  thing  Mr.  Parkman  knew  of  it,  he  looked 
out  of  the  door  and  saw  these  Indians  driving  up  to  his 
house  with  his  horses  and  wagon.  He  went  out  and 
asked  them  what  they  were  doing  with  his  team.  They 
paid  no  attention  at  first,  and  then  talked  back  to  him 
in  the  Indian  language,  as  if  they  did  not  understand  a 
word  he  said.  He  knew  very  well  that  one  of  them 
could  understandj  and  he  went  up  to  him  and  told  him 


276  THE    EXILES. 

to  stop,  that  that  was  his  team,  but  the  Indian  only 
acted  more  insolent  than  ever. 

He  then  went  over  to  the  Inspector's  office,  told 
him  what  was  going  on,  and  asked  his  protection. 

"  It  comes  with  very  poor  grace  from  you,"  said 
Brown,  "  to  be  asking  protection  from  me.  If  you  are 
running  this  agency,  you  can  protect  yourself.  If  you 
are  not,  you  had  better  obey  orders.  There  ain't  much 
security  for  anybody  around  here  who  disobeys  my 
orders.  I  sent  these  boys  after  you.  I  know  'em. 
They  are  as  true  as  steel.  The  first  thing  you  know 
you'll  get  handled  pretty  rough." 

"  Mr.  Brown,  do  you  intend  to  force  me  off  from 
this  reservation  ?" 

"  I  gave  you  an  order  to  leave  five  days  ago.  My 
orders  are  generally  enforced  about  this  Agency." 

"  1  came  here  to  preach  the  gospel  to  these  Indians, 
sent  by  the  regularly-constituted  authorities  of  my 
church.  I  have  harmed  no  man.  I  have  interfered 
with  no  orders  of  the  government.  I  have  violated  no 
law.  Aside  from  the  authority  of  the  church,  I  have 
the  divine  commission  to  go  and  preach  the  gospel  to 
every  creature.  I  have  a  right  to  point  these  poor, 
ignorant,  dying  men  to  the  cross  of  Christ.  There  is 
no  spot  I  know  of  in  all  the  world  where  a  missionary 
is  denied  the  privilege  of  preaching  the  Gospel." 

"  Well,  I  know  one  spot  where  you  can't  preach. 

I've  ordered  you  to  go,  and  go  you  will,  or • 

you,  or  I'll  know  the  reason  why." 

Brown  was  livid  with  rage  and  trembled  from  head 
to  foot.  Mr.  Parkman  said  no  more,  but  went  back  to 


DAWSON'S  DISCOVERY.  277 

his  house.  His  bedding  and  furniture — it  was  very 
little  the  missioifary  had — was  tumbled  into  the  wagon. 
Mrs.  Parkman  and  Jennie  were  standing  in  the  middle 
of  the  denuded  room.  Jennie  was  holding  the  baby  in 
her  arms.  Her  face  was  calm  and  placid,  and  she 
seemed  unmoved  by  the  rudeness  of  the  Indians  or  the 
uproar  they  created.  A  wonderful  change  had  come 
over  Jennie  during  the  last  year.  She  was  ready  to 
face  death  with  a  courage  and  calmness  equal  to  Mrs. 
Parkman.  The  Indians  motioned  for  them  to  get  into 
the  wragon.  Mr.  Parkman  assisted  the  two  ladies  in, 
took  the  reins  and  drove  away. 

"  The  Secretary  of  the  interior,"  said  Mr.  Parkman, 
"  is  more  intolerant  than  the  Sultan.  We  are  exiles  in 
our  own  country." 


CHAPTER  XXXY. 
DAWSON'S   DISCOVERY. 

O  persons  who  have  been  accustomed  to  the 
usages  of  polite  society,  who  endeavor 
always  to  avoid  giving  pain,  and  strive  to 
make  everybody  with  whom  they  come  in 
contact  comfortable  and  happy,  the  actions  of  Inspector 
Brown  will  appear  inexplicable.  Let  such  persons 
reflect  that  all  history  proves  that  cruelty  and  selfish 
ness  are  the  natural  outgrowth  of  unlimited  power. 
An  Indian  girl,  who  is  now  in  a  boarding-school  in  one 


278  DAWSON'S  DISCOVERY. 

of  the  Eastern  States,  said  to  me  the  other  day,  "  I 
hate  to  study  the  history  of  the  white  people.  It  is 
nothing  but  murder,  murder,  murder,  all  the  time.  I 
read  about  the  murder  of  two  little  princes  in  a  tower 
yesterday.  And  then  there  is  all  that  about  burning 
people  alive  because  they  wanted  to  read  the  Bible. 
These  things  are  so  horrible  that  I  dream  about  them 
at  night." 

All  the  cruelties  recorded  in  history  have  grown 
out  of  the  exercise  of  unlimited  power  by  somebody. 
An  Indian  agent  under  our  system  is  an  absolute 
monarch.  He  can  practice  any  cruelty  and  there  is  no 
appeal  as  long  as  he  is  in  favor  with  the  Secretary  of  the 
Interior.  Absolute  unquestioning  obedience  to  his 
orders  is  the  only  safety  for  either  white  man  or  Indian 
in  the  limits  of  his  dominions.  There  is  no  court  and 
no  jury.  This  breeds  fawning  sycophancy  in  those 
subject  to  his  control.  When  he  has  become  accustomed 
to  that,  then  the  slightest  interference  with  his  wishes 
throws  him  into  a  rage. 

When  Mr.  Parkman  left  Inspector  Brown  that 
official's  rage  knew  no  bounds.  The  idea  that  a 
miserable  missionary  would  dare  to  talk  to  him  in  that 
manner,  was  to  him  unbearable,  and  his  only  thought 
was  how  he  could  punish  him.  If  Mr.  Parkman  had 
ever  done  anything  that  would  have  given  him  the 
slightest  excuse  to  have  imprisoned  him,  he  would  have 
ordered  him  put  in  the  guard -house  immediately.  The 
deputy  marshal  whom  he  had  incarcerated  the  day 
before  had  been  released  early  that  morning  and 
marched  off  the  reservation  under  guard. 


DAWSON'S  DISCOVEKY.  279 

The  next  day  the  trader  came  to  his  office. 

"You  are  getting  them  pretty  well  cleaned  out," 
said  he. 

"  Yes,"  said  Brown,  "  the  last  of  them  have  gone, 
and  I  don't  think  they  will  trouble  us  soon.  I  guess 
they've  got  enough  of  it." 

"  There  is  one  thing  about  that  Parkman  I  ought  to 
have  told  you  before." 

"What  is  it?" 

"  He's  been  writing  letters  for  Ked  Iron  and  several 
other  Indians  to  Badger's  old  band  out  on  the  Aricko- 
ree,  without  asking  permission  of  anybody."* 

"Why  didn't  you  tell  me  that  before'?" 

"  Well,  they  didn't  come  exactly  under  the  statute, 
with  the  exception  of  one.  And  then  I  thought  at  that 
time  that  Parkman  was  a  pretty  good  fellow,  and  did 
not  intend  to  meddle  with  our  arrangements." 

"  He's  been  writing  letters  for  the  Indians,  has  he  ? 
Now,  if  I  had  known  that,  I  needn't  have  gone  this 
roundabout  way  to  have  got  rid  of  him.  He's  gone 
off  intending  to  make  a  row." 

Brown  fell  into  a  brown  study  for  a  few  minutes. 
Then  he  sent  out  for  two  Indians  who  wTere  known  at 
the  agency  by  the  names  of  Chisel  and  Dirty  Face. 

*  I  resolved  that  in  writing  this  book  I  would  not  make  one 
note,  for  if  I  commenced  to  write  notes,  citing  proofs  of  the  in 
cidents  recorded  in  this  story,  it  would  be  a  book  of  notes,  and 
not  a  story  at  all.  But,  as  Joe  Jefferson  says  :  "I  won't  count 
this  time,"  and  say  that  letter  writing  for  Indians,  under  many 
circumstances,  is  made  a  felony  by  law.  See  V.  S. 
StatuteslWS,  §2111. 


280  DAWSON'S  DISCOVERY. 

The  names  were  given  to  them,  one  because  he  had 
been  accused  of  stealing  a  chisel,  and  the  other  because 
he  never  washed  his  face.  They  had  been  employed 
to  drive  Mr.  Parkman  off,  and  had  done  the  job  so 
well,  he  could  trust  them  with  one  still  more  impor 
tant.  He  was  determined  to  wreak  vengeance  on  Mr. 
Parkman.  He  hated  him  with  a  sort  of  hatred  which 
only  dwells  in  the  bosom  of  tyrants. 

When  these  two  Indians  reported  to  him,  he  ordered 
them  to  take  three  of  the  agency  horses  and  follow  on 
after  Mr.  Parkman,  overtake  him  before  he  crossed  the 
line  of  the  reservation,  and  bring  him  back  to  the 
Agency. 

The  reservation  was  a  very  large  tract  of  country, 
and  Mr.  Parkman  had  driven  seventy-five  miles  when 
the  Indians  overtook  him.  One  rode  in  front,  took  the 
horses  by  the  bits  and  stopped  them,  the  other  took 
hold  of  Mr.  Parkman's  arm,  and  jerked  him  out  of  the 
wagon. 

Both  Mrs.  Parkman  and  Jennie  thought  the  hour 
of  death  had  come.  Mrs.  Parkman  hugged  her  babe 
to  her  bosom  and  Jennie  sat  unmoved,  closed  her  eyes 
and  in  a  short  prayer  commended  them  all  to  God. 

Dirty  Face  brought  the  extra  horse,  put  a  loaded 
revolver  to  Mr.  Parkman's  head  and  motioned  him  to 
mount.  Then  they  turned  their  horses'  heads  toward 
the  agency  and  rode  away  with  Mr.  Parkman. 

It  was  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  miles  to  the 
nearest  white  settlement,  and  there  these  two  women 
and  little  babe  were  left  alone  on  the  wide  prairie. 
_  Jennie  kneeled  down  and  poured  out  her  soul  in 


281 

prayer  to  Him  who  numbers  the  very  hairs  of  our 
heads,  and  without  whose  notice  not  a  sparrow  falls 
to  the  ground.  Then  turning  to  Mrs.  Parkman,  she 
said : 

"  What  shall  we  do  P 

"  I  am  too  weak  and  sick,"  she  replied,  "  to  advise." 

"  There  are  but  two  things  we  can  do.  One  is  to 
go  back  to  the  Agency,  and  the  other  is  to  try  and 
reach  Council  Bluffs,  and  ask  for  help." 

"  I  think  we  had  better  try  to  get  to  Council  Bluffs. 
Perhaps  Mr.  "Wilrnot  or  some  other  friends  there  can 
help  us." 

Jennie  took  up  the  lines  and  started  the  team.  She 
had  never  undertaken  to  drive  a  pair  of  horses  before. 
It  took  but  little  skill  to  drive,  however,  for  the  trail 
was  broad,  level  and  very  plain,  made  so  by  the  trains 
passing  over  it  to  the  Agency.  It  was  nine  o'clock 
that  night  when  they  reached  a  camping  place,  where 
there  was  grass  and  water  for  the  horses,  and  wood  for 
a  fire.  It  took  Jennie  a  long  time  in  the  dark  to  get 
the  harness  off  the  horses,  lead  them  down  to  the  creek 
to  drink,  lariat  them  out,  gather  wood,  make  a  fire  and 
cook  supper. 

As  soon  as  the  first  streak  of  red  began  to  shoot  up 
in  the  eastern  sky  Jennie  arose  from  her  couch  in  the 
wagon,  made  a  fire  and  began  to  prepare  breakfast.  It 
took  a  long  time  for  both  her  and  Mrs.  Parkman  to  har 
ness  the  horses  and  hitch  them  to  the  wagon  ;  but  after 
many  trials  they  succeeded.  All  day  long  over  the  si 
lent  prairie  they  pressed  on,  and  just  at  night  reached 
the  river  and  were  ferried  over.  It  was  after  dark 


282 

when  they  drove  into  Council  Bluffs.  They  went  to  the 
house  of  a  Methodist  brother,  and  were  welcomed  joy 
fully. 

Word  was  sent  to  Mr.  Wilmot,  and  both  he  and  Mr. 
Dawson  called  the  next  morning.  The  Deputy  Mar 
shal  had  returned  the  day  before.  The  two  lawyers 
got  every  fact  and  incident  from  the  ladies,  and  then  re 
tired  to  Mr.  Wilmot's  office  for  consultation. 

"  What  is  to  be  done  ?"  said  Wilmot. 

"  That  is  what  I  am  not  prepared  to  say,"  said  Daw- 
son.  "I've  made  up  my  mind  on  one  point,  and  that 
is,  that  this  Indian  system  is  the  most  cunningly  de 
vised  scheme  for  permitting  robbery  and  tyranny  that 
the  mind  of  man  ever  devised.  In  the  last  few  weeks 
I  have  read  over  the  statutes  under  the  title  '  Indians,' 
at  least  fifty  times.  At  first  I  saw  nothing  wrong ; 
they  looked  as  if  they  were  for  the  protection  and  wel 
fare  of  the  Indians ;  but  now  I  see  villainy  concealed  in 
every  line.  Taken  together,  they  create  a  system,  and 
that  system  puts  everybody,  whites  as  well  as  Indians, 
entirely  within  the  control  of  a  ring  of  robbers,  mur 
derers  and  speculators.  I  am  an  older  lawyer  than  you. 
I  have  practiced  law  for  fifteen  years,  but  I  must  con 
fess  that  I  never  dreamed  that  there  were  in  our  stat 
utes  what  I  have  discovered  since  I  took  your  case. 
There  seems  to  be  a  foreign  country  located  out  here, 
nnder  a  despotic  government.  It  is  not  a  government 
of  Indians  (I  wish  it  was,  for  I  had  a  hundred  times 
rather  deal  with  them  than  with  white  savages  like 
Brown) ;  but  it  is  a  government  of  a  band  of  white 
i  thieves.  In  that  country  no  process  of  our  courts  will 


283 

reach.  The  only  force  that  can  be  brought  to  bear  on 
them  is  that  of  the  army,  and  the  action  of  the  army  is 
controlled  by  the  head  of  the  ring  in  Washington.  Sol 
diers  arrested  Ilarkins  ;  soldiers  guarded  you  while  you 
were  imprisoned.  Suppose  that  you  and  Harkins  and 
Jack  had  arrested  Brown.  Would  not  the  army  have 
been  ordered  to  release  him  ?  But  when  you  were  ar 
rested  there  was  no  force  which  could  be  called  upon  to 
release  you.  You  see  there  is  a  power  behind  these 
men  which  will  crush  any  man  to  the  earth  who  comes 
in  contact  with  it." 

"  What  do  you  propose  to  do  ?" 

"  There  is  nothing  which  can  be  done,  except  to 
commence  at  the  foundations  and  overthrow  the  whole 
system ;  and  that,  I  fancy,  is  too  big  a  job  for  two  coun 
try  lawyers." 

"  I  think  Jack  was  about  right  concerning  the  proc 
ess  to  be  used  with  these  men." 

"  What  did  he  propose  ?" 

"  Put  daylight  through  them." 

"  Who  do  you  propose  to  commence  on  ?" 

«  Loft." 

Loft  was  the  man  whom  Dawson  caught  eavesdrop 
ping,  and  afterward  writing  to  the  Secretary  of  the 
Interior. 

"  Is  he  watching  you  yet  ?" 

"  Yes  ;  everywhere  I  go  that  thief  is  at  my  heels.   I 
went  down  to  St.  Joe  the  other  day.     The  next  morn 
ing  when  I  went  into  the  office  of  the  hotel,  there  was 
Loft." 
i      "  Do  you  think  he  is  a  detective  ?" 


284:  DOGGED    BY    DETECTIVES. 

"  I  don't  know  what  lie  is,  but  if  he  don't  stop  fol 
lowing  me  around,  he'll  get  hurt.'' 

Four  or  five  days  after  this,  Mr.  Parkman  came 
into  Council  Bluffs  on  foot.  He  said  he  was  taken 
back  to  the  agency,  put  in  the  guard-house  and  kept 
over  night.  The  next  morning  he  was  set  at  liberty, 
and  told  to  go." 


CHAPTER  XXXYI. 

DOGGED    BY  DETECTIVES. 

O"W  was  "Wilmot's  plot  discovered  ?" 

When  Parker  reported  the  arrangement 
between  him  and  Wilmot  to  Mr.  Clark,  that 
gentleman's  suspicions  were  aroused.  He 
sent  for  Perkins,  but  Perkins  thought  that  it  was  all 
right,  that  likely  he  got  Harkins  to  go  out  for  two 
thousand  five  hundred  dollars,  and  he  would  stay  at 
home  and  pocket  the  five  thousand  himself. 

"But  no  arrangement  at  all  has  been  made  with 
Harkins,"  said  Clark.  "  Now  I  tell  you,  Perkins,  that 
you  have  got  us  into  an  awful  scrape.  I  can't  be  fooled 
in  this  way.  I'm  not  going  to  run  any  risks.  Things 
at  that  agency  must  be  run  straight,  until  Harkins 
makes  some  proposition  or  we  can  get  rid  of  him." 

In  accordance  with  this,  Parker  was  ordered  to  deal 
"  straight "  and  keep  a  sharp  look-out.  The  cipher  let-, 


DOGGED    BY    DETECTIVES.  285 

ter  was  the  first  thing  that  looked  "  crooked."  He 
sent  it  to  Mr.  Clark  by  special  messenger.  Mr.  Clark 
took  it  to  the  Indian  Commissioner. 

This  government  has  in  its  employment  for  its  spe 
cial  work,  the  most  skillful  and  expert  scientists,  engi 
neers,  engravers,  accountants,  mathematicians  and  de 
tectives  in  the  world.  The  heads  of  departments  call 
upon  them  when  their  services  are  needed.  The  ci 
pher  letter  was  put  into  the  hands  of  a  detective  skilled 
in  those  matters.  He  asked  but  one  question  about  it. 
It  was : 

"  What  is  it  supposed  to  contain  ?" 

"It  is  something  about  Indians,  Indian  agencies, 
supplies  or  appropriations." 

The  detective  took  it,  went  into  a  library  and  sat 
down." 

"  This,"  he  said  to  himself,  "  is  evidently  a  diction 
ary  cipher." 

Then  he  read  it  over  very  slowly,  two  or  three 
times. 

"  There  is  likely  to  be  in  it  something  about  appro 
priations." 

Then  he  studied  very  carefully  all  the  words  which 
commenced  with  "  a."  He  took  down  several  diction 
aries  and  counted  the  words  backward  or  forward  from 
the  word  "  appropriation"  to  the  word  which  he  had 
selected,  which  commenced  with  "a,"  and  tried  each 
one  as  a  key  to  the  cipher,  but  none  of  them  was  the 
right  word. 

"  It  is  evidently  not  appropriations,"  thought  he. 
..I'll  try  { annuities.' 


286  DOGGED    BY    DETECTIVES* 

He  then  selected  the  word  "  annular."  He  found 
this  word  in  the  dictionary  and  then  counted  forward 
until  he  came  to  the  word  "  annuities."  After  trying 
that  for  a  key  in  five  or  six  different  dictionaries,  he  took 
up  the  American  Pronouncing  Dictionary,  by  Alexan 
der  H.  Laidlaw,  published  in  Philadelphia  by  Crissy  & 
Markley,  counting  forward  five  words,  from  the  word 
"  annular,"  he  came  to  the  word  "  annuities."  He  tried 
this  and  found  he  had  discovered  the  key.  To 
read  the  cipher  now,  all  he  had  to  do  was  to  find  the 
word  in  Laidlaw's  Dictionary,  count  five  words  back 
ward  and  he  had  the  translation.  Within  twenty-four 
hours  after  the  cipher  was  given  him,  he  handed  the 
Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs  (without  ever  imagin 
ing  that  he  was  using  his  skill  to  rob  a  tribe  of  poor 
Indians)  the  following  paper : 

"DEABSlR,— 

"  I  have  translated  the  cipher  which  was  submitted 
to  me.  It  reads  as  follows  : 

"  *  Forward  by  private  messenger  a  correct  and  accu 
rate  account  of  all  expenditures  to  date,  with  names  of 
parties  to  whom  money  was  paid,  amount  of  annuities 
and  rations  so  far  received.  State  quality.  Make 
careful  inspection  of  sugar,  coffee,  flour,  beef  and 
pork.  Report  first  indications  of  fraud.' 

^  I  have  the  honor  to  be, 
"  Yery  truly  yours, 
«C.  C.  AXELL." 

The  paper  was  soon  in  the  hands  of  Clark  and 
Perkins. 


DOGGED    BY    DETECTIVES.  287 

"  There,  what  did  I  tell  you  ?"  said  Clark. 

"  It's  a  bad  job,"  replied  Perkins. 

"  Well,  what's  to  be  done?" 

"  Indict  him  ;  that's  the  old  way  and  it's  as  good  as 
any." 

"  The  grand  jury  don't  meet  until  fall,  and  by  the 
time  you  can  get  him  indicted  the  whole  year's  ap 
propriations  will  be  gone." 

"  Arrest  him  on  a  warrant." 

"  Who'll  swear  out  the  warrant  ?" 

"  Hildreth,  if  you  want  him  to." 

"  That  won't  do  at  all." 

"  Well,  what  do  you  propose  ?" 

"  I've  a  notion  to  give  up  that  agency." 

"  You  can't  do  it.  What  will  you  do  with  Parker  ? 
How  will  you  keep  him  quiet  ?" 

"  Take  him  to  your  agency." 

"  You  know  very  well  that  that  can't  be  done.  The 
places  are  all  full,  and  I  have  Walker  on  my  hands 
beside." 

"  Well,  suppose  we  send  Brown  out  there  and  let 
him  inspect  the  agency." 

"  That's  the  very  thing,"  said  Perkins,  "  and  you 
needn't  give  him  any  instructions  either.  Just  tell 
him  what  you  want  done,  and  he'll  find  some  way  to 
do  it." 

A  few  days  after  this,  Inspector  Brown  received  the 
following  letter  from  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  : 

"  You  will  proceed  immediately  to  the  reservation 
on  the  Baha  Taha,  and  make  a  thorough  inspection  of 
the  agency,  You  will  summarily  remove  the  agent  or 


288  DOGGED    BY    DETECTIVES. 

any  employee,  if  found  guilty  of  fraud,  and  take 
charge  of  the  agency  until  you  receive  further  orders." 

It  was  in  accordance  with  these  instructions  that 
Brown  was  acting.  Besides  this  he  had  "  verbal  instruc 
tions."  It  is  behind  "verbal  instructions5'  that  Indian 
inspectors  always  find  a  safe  refuge. 

Brown's  first  report  stated  that  things  had  a  very 
"  crooked "  look,  and  asked  for  a  detective  to  assist 
him  in  working  lip  the  case.  In  answer  to  this,  Loft 
was  sent  on,  and  Brown  assigned  him  to  the  task  of 
watching  Wilmot.  Loft  was  a  faithful  worker,  and 
earned  his  five  dollars  a  day.  He  kept  a  perfect  record 
of  every  movement  of  Wilmot.  There  was  scarcely  an 
hour  in  the  day  that  Loft  did  not  know  where  he  was 
and  what  he  was  doing.  He  informed  Brown  of  Wil- 
mot's  coming,  and  sent  a  messenger  ahead  of  the  marshal, 
so  a  reception  could  be  prepared  for  him.  He  found 
out  Wilmot's  friendship  for  Mr.  Parkman  and  reported 
that.  He  looked  up  Wilmot's  past  record  and  could 
have  written  an  accurate  biography  of  him. 

His  constant  dogging  of  Wilmot's  footsteps  was 
intensely  irritating — no  one  can  tell  how  irritating,  until 
he  has  himself  felt  that  the  eyes  of  a  detective  are 
ever  on  him. 

One  day  Wilmot  went  into  Dawson's  office  and 
said: 

"You'll  have  another  case  on  your  hands  before 
long,  and  this  time  it  will  be  a  murder  case." 

"  Are  you  meditating  murder  ?"  asked  Dawson. 

"  Yes,"  said  Wilmot  in  a  half  serious  tone. 

"  Who  are  you  going  to  kill  ?     Perkins  or  Brown  2" 


GONE    TO    THE    ARICKOREE.  2S9 

"  Neither.     I'm  going  to  turn  them  over  to  Jack." 

"Clark?" 

"No." 

"  Who  is  it,  then «" 

"  Loft." 

"  I  don't  see  what  you  have  against  Loft.  Let  him 
watch.  What  harm  will  it  do  ?" 

"  It's  very  easy  for  you  to  talk  in  that  way,  but  if 
some  fellow  was  constantly  on  your  trail,  you  wouldn't 
find  it  so  pleasant.  There  he  is  over  on  the  other  side 
of  the  street  looking  in  at  the  window  now." 

"  I'll  tell  you  what  to  do.  Get  acquainted  with 
him,  invite  him  to  dine,  go  on  a  fishing  excursion,  have 
a  good  time." 

"  I've  a  notion  to  try  it." 

Wilmot  stood  looking  out  of  the  window.  All  at 
once  he  exclaimed : 

"  Je-ru-sa-lem !" 

"  What's  the  matter  ?"  said  Dawson. 

"There's  Perkins  himself." 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

GONE   TO  THE  AKICKOREE. 

ILMOT    had    made  frequent  visits  to  Jttr. 
Parkman's  since  their  return.    There  had 
been  several  quiet  evenings  spent  there.    He 
went  to  church  very  regularly  on  Sunday 
nights.    He  always  had  a  headache  Sunday  morning, 
13 


290  GONE    TO    THE    AEICKOEEE. 

but  it  always  ceased  in  time  for  him  to  escort  Jennie  to 
church  in  the  evening. 

"  Don't  you  believe  in  the  Bible  ?"  said  Jennie  to 
l^im  one  evening. 

"  Yes,  of  course  I  do.  Our  system  of  government 
and  of  law  are  both  founded  on  the  Bible." 

"  I  wish  you  would  join  the  church  and  become  a 
missionary.  I  think  you  could  preach  much  better 
than  Mr.  Parkman/' 

"  What  makes  you  think  that  ?" 

"  Oh,  I  don't  know.  But  people  ask  Mr.  Parkman 
questions  sometimes  that  he  can't  answer.  Mr.  Loft  has 
been  coming  there  pretty  frequently  lately.  He  doesn't 
believe  in  the  Bible.  The  other  day  he  asked  Mr. 
Parkman  what  the  text  meant  which  said :  i  He  that 
believeth  on  me,  the  works  that  I  do  shall  he  do  also, 
and  greater  works  than  these  shall  he  do  ;'  and  Mr. 
Parkman  could  make  no  satisfactory  answer.  Mr.  Loft 
said  that  the  Bible  claimed  that  Christ  raised  the  dead, 
and  healed  the  sick  by  a  touch  of  his  hand,  and  here 
was  a  text  which  said  that  anybody  who  believed  on 
him  should  do  all  this,  and  a  great  deal  more.  "What 
answer  would  you  have  made  ?" 

"  I  would  have  told  him  that  men  were  doing  a 
thousand  times  more  wonderful  things  every  day  than 
Christ  ever  did.  They  take  the  lightning  from  the 
skies  and  send  it  with  a  message  around  the  world  in  a 
second.  What  is  stilling  a  storm  on  a  little  lake  to  a  feat 
like  that  ?  Christ  raised  Lazarus  from  the  dead.  A 
physician  walks  into  a  great  city.  There  is  a  pestilence. 
The  dead  are  in  every  house.  They  are  rotting  on  the 


GONE    TO    THE    AEICKOBEE.  291 

pavements.  Old  and  young  lie  together  in  putrid 
masses.  The  physician  calls  the  living  to  him,  makes  a 
little  incision  in  their  arms,  and  the  plague  is  feared  no 
more.  Is  it  not  greater  to  save  the  lives  of  all  the  peo 
ple  of  a  great  city  than  to  raise  one  man  from  the  dead  ? 
Christ  was  spirited  away  into  a  mountain  in  a  night. 
Men  now  lie  down  to  sleep  in  a  palace  in  one  city,  and 
the  next  morning  they  find  the  palace  in  another,  and 
they  walk  out  in  the  streets,  and  buy  and  sell  and  get 
gain.  Is  that  not  greater  than  that  night  scene  in  the 
life  of  Christ  ?  What  nations  of  men  do  these  things  ? 
The  nations  in  which  the  truths  which  Christ  taught 
form  the  basis  of  society.  The  nations  who  have  be 
lieved  on  him.  I  would  have  said  something  like  that 
to  him." 

"  I  do  so  like  to  hear  you  talk.  It  always  makes 
me  feel  stronger  and  better.  I  wish  you  would  join 
the  church." 

"Who  ever  heard  of  a  lawyer  belonging  to  the 
church?" 

"  Oh,  I've  read  of  real  good  lawyers." 

"Did  you  ever  see  one?" 

"  Yes,  one,"  said  Jennie,  timidly. 

"  I've  read  of  young  ladies  who  went  out  as  mis 
sionaries.  That  was  when  I  was  a  little  boy  and 
went  to  Sunday-school.  I  thought  they  were  the  no 
blest  people  who  ever  lived ;  but  I  did  not  know  how 
really  good  and  true  and  noble  they  were  until  I  got 
acquainted  with  you." 

"  I  have  long  wanted  to  tell  you " 

"  Mr.  Wilmot !" 


292  GONE    TO    THE    AEICKOEEE. 

The  voice  came  from  behind.  He  turned  and  saw 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Parkman.  They  had  overtaken  them, 
and  from  there  the  two  couple  walked  home  together.  - 

It  was  the  next  day  that  Wilmot  saw  Perkins  on  the 
street.  He  intended  to  call  that  night  at  Mr.  Park- 
man's,  but  just  as  he  was  ready  to  start  Loft  came  into 
his  office. 

"  I  came,"  said  Loft,  "  to  consult  you  about  a  very 
important  case  which  is  to  come  up  at  the  next  term  of 
court.  I  am  not  personally  interested  in  it  myself,  but 
a  friend  of  mine  has  written  me  a  letter,  and  asked  me 
to  call  upon  you.  Here  is  the  letter,"  and  he  handed 
it  to  Mr.  Wilmot. 

It  proved  to  be  a  letter  from  Mr.  Borden,  requesting 
Loft  to  inquire  into  the  character  and  trustworthiness 
of  a  firm  of  lawyers  by  the  name  of  Bledsoe  &  Dosier, 
and  if  there  was  any  doubts  about  them  to  put  the  case 
into  the  hands  of  Mr.  Wilmot.  The  examination  of 
the  case  occupied  the  whole  evening. 

The  next  night  when  Wilmot  called  at  Mr.  Park- 
mans,  Jennie  was  not  there.  Mrs.  Parkman  said  that 
Jennie's  father  had  returned  with  Perkins,  and  he  had 
taken  her,  and  started  at  daylight  that  morning  for  the 
Agency  on  the  Arickoree. 


DEFEATED. 

CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 

DEFEATED. 


FTER  the  banishment  of  Harkins,  Jennie, 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Parkman,  there  was  perfect 
quiet  at  Red  Irons  agency.  In  a  few  days 
the  new  agent  arrived.  It  was  John  Hil- 
dreth,  the  principal  witness  against  Badger.  Inspector 
Brown  turned  over  everything  to  him  and  left,  to  go  on 
his  rounds  to  "  straighten  out "  other  agencies.  He  was 
complimented  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  for  his 
efficient  work.  The  letter  was  given  to  the  Associated 
Press,  and  printed  in  all  the  dailies  in  the  United 
States.  It  contained  a  statement  of  how  he  had  dis 
covered  fraud  at  the  agency,  and  had  removed  Agent 
Harkins,  and  prosecuted  him  in  the  courts.  Then  the 
editors  all  over  the  country  complimented  the  Secretary 
of  the  Interior,  for  his  energy  in  prosecuting  thieves, 
and  his  efforts  to  break  up  the  Indian  Ring.  When  the 
Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs  made  his  official  annual 
report,  he  put  into  the  permanent  records  of  the  coun 
try  the  statement  that  Harkins  had  been  removed  for 
fraud,  and  there  it  will  stand  to  the  end  of  time. 

Wilmot  made  every  preparation  for  a  thorough  de 
fense  of  Harkins ;  but  when  the  case  was  called  the 
District  Attorney  entered  a  nolle  prosequi,  and  that  was 
the  end  of  it. 

When  Wilmot's  case  for  false  imprisonment  against 


294:  DEFEATED. 

Brown  was  reached  on  the  docket,  a  lawyer  from 
Washington  appeared  for  Brown.  lie  was  a  lawyer  of 
eminent  ability,  employed  by  the  Department  of 
Justice.  He  moved  to  dismiss  the  case  for  want  of 
jurisdiction,  and  in  the  argument  on  that  motion  con 
sumed  a  whole  day.  Dawson  replied  in  a  speech  of  an 
hour-and-a-half,  his  argument  being  based  on  broad 
constitutional  grounds.  The  judge  took  the  case  under 
advisement  and  the  next  day  rendered  a  decision  re 
fusing  to  dismiss  the  case. 

Dawson  was  about  to  call  his  witnesses,  when  the 
"Washington  lawyer  arose  and  said  : 

"  May  it  please  the  Court :  I  will  state  that  it  will 
not  be  necessary  to  consume  the  time  of  the  Court  in 
examining  witnesses  to  prove  the  fact  of  the  arrest  and 
imprisonment  for  four  days,  as  charged  in  the  papers. 
I  will  admit  all  that  is  set  forth." 

"  What  is  the  ground  of  your  defense,  then  ?"  asked 
Dawson. 

"  The  ground  of  the  defense  will  be  set  forth  in  my 
argument,  and  if  you  will  listen,  I  think  I  can  fully 
satisfy  you,  and  if  not  you,  the  Court,  that  Inspector 
Brown  had  legal  authority  for  all  that  he  did." 

The  argument,  which  lies  before  me,  is  too  long  for 
insertion  here.  It  was  based  on  the  following  sections 
of  the  Revised  Statutes  : 

"  Section  2,149.  The  Commissioner  of  Indian  Af 
fairs,  is  authorized  and  required,  with  the  approval  of 
the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  to  remove  from  any 
tribal  reservation  any  person  being  there  without 
authority  of  law,  or  whose  presence  within  the  limits 


DEFEATED.  295 

of  the  reservation  may,  in  tlie  judgment  of  the  Com 
missioner,  be  detrimental  to  the  peace  and  welfare  of 
the  Indians,  and  may  employ  for  the  purpose  such 
force  as  may  be  necessary  to  enable  the  agent  to  effect 
the  removal  of  such  person. 

"  Section  2,150.  The  military  forces  of  the  United 
States  may  be  employed  in  such  manner  and  under  such 
regulations  as  the  President  may  direct. 

"  First.  In  the  apprehension  of  any  person  found  in 
the  Indian  country,"  etc. 

The  result  of  it  all  was,  the  Judge  decided  that 
there  was  "no  cause  of  action,"  and  assessed  the  costs 
against  Wilmot. 

In  making  the  decision,  the  Judge  remarked,  that 
whether  the  exercise  of  such  extensive  discretionary 
power  which  the  law  vested  in  the  Commissioner  was 
wise  and  just,  was  not  for  him  to  decide.  It  was 
enough  for  him  to  know  that  the  power  legally  existed, 
and  while  thus  legally  existing,  the  exercise  of  the 
power  must  be  upheld  by  the  courts. 

Wilmot  went  to  his  office  that  night  sad,  dis 
heartened  and  discouraged.  The  thieves  had  gained 
a  complete  triumph.  He  said  to  Dawson  : 

"  There  seems  to  be  no  recourse  for  an  Indian  who 
is  wronged  except  he  appeals  to  the  rifle  and  the  scalp- 
ing-knife.  Who  can  blame  them,  when  every  resource 
is  exhausted,  when  they  are  starved  and  robbed  and 
imprisoned  on  reservations,  if,  like  brave  men,  they  pre 
fer  to  die  fighting  to  being  made  beggars  and  paupers, 
and  end  a  miserable  existence  by  disease  or  starva 
tion  ?» 


296  DEFEATED. 

"You  undertook  too  big  a  job,"  said  Dawson, 
"  when  you  went  into  a  contest  with  the  Indian  Ring. 
You  see  they  have  called  to  their  aid  tl'iree  of  the 
departments  of  the  Government — the  War  Department, 
the  Interior  Department  and  the  Department  of  Justice. 
All  of  them  have  been  forced  to  do  their  bidding.  No 
single  individual  has  any  chance  in  such  a  contest. 
Back  of  all  that,  they  control  all  the  avenues  of 
information  to  the  people  at  large,  and  thus  control 
public  opinion.  The  public  look  upon  Brown  as  a  very 
efficient  and  capable  officer,  and  upon  Harkins  as  a 
thief.  Do  you  suppose  that  out  of  all  the  millions  who 
read  the  Secretary's  letter  to  Brown,  which  was  pub 
lished  in  the  papers  everywhere,  that  there  will  ever  be 
five  hundred  who  will  know  that  they  were  forced,  for 
want  of  evidence,  to  enter  a  nolle  pros,  in  his  case  ?  I 
doubt  if  anybody  outside  of  the  court-room,  when  the 
record  was  made,  will  ever  hear  of  it.  Have  you  found 
out  what  the  costs  amount  to  ?" 

"  Don't  ask  me,"  said  Wilmot.  "  I  wish  I  had 
taken  your  advice." 

"  Well,  I  suppose  if  I  had  been  arrested,  as  you 
were,  I  would  have  done  the  same  thing." 

"  I  don't  care  for  losing  the  case." 

"  Don't  care  for  losing  the  case  1  What  is  troubling 
you  so,  then  ?" 

"  It's  another  matter  altogether." 

"  I'll  be  glad  to  render  you  any  service  I  can." 

"  I  don't  believe  you  can  help  me.  I'll  not  talk 
about  it.  To  drive  all  this  annoyance  out  of  mind  I 
will  tell  you  a  story.  Here,  have  a  cigar." 


DEFEATED.  297 

The  two  men  lit  their  cigars. 

"  Say,  Dawson,"  said  Wilmot,  "  just  look  out  at  the 
door  and  see  if  Loft  is  around  anywhere  listening." 

"  Oh,  pshaw  !     Go  on  with  your  story." 

"It  happened  about  three  hundred  years  ago. 
That's  about  the  time  of  what  they  call  the  '  dark  ages,' 
isn't  it  ?" 

"  Yes,  I  guess  so,"  said  Dawson,  puffing  away  at  his 
cigar. 

"Well,  I  don't  know  how  long  ago  it  was,  but  it 
was  in  the  time  of  the  i  dark  ages.'  I'm  certain  about 
the  '  dark  age '  part  of  it." 

"  What  happened  ?     Why  don't  you  tell  your  story  ?" 

"  I  guess  I  won't  tell  it." 

"  Oh,  go  ahead." 

"  Well,  a  long  time,  ago  in  the '  dark  ages ' " 

"Confound  your  'dark  ages.'  Go  on  with  the 
story." 

"  A  long  time  ago,  in  the  dark  ages,  there  was  a 
beautiful  young  lady.  She  was  riding  along  in  a  stage 
coach — no,  a  diligence.  She  hadn't  seen  hei  father  for 
a  long  time,  and  she  was  going  to  meet  him.  The  stage 
coach — no,  the  diligence — was  met  by  a  gang  of  robbers, 
and  everybody  in  it  was  killed  but  her.  The  horses 
ran  off  into  a  river  and  she  was  rescued  by  a  band  of 
savages  who  lived  in  that  neighborhood.  They  treated 
her  very  well  for  a  while,  but  finally  they  went  to  war 
and  tried  to  kill  her.  A  young  prince,  who  happened 
to  find  her  just  in  time,  took  her  on  to  his  horse  and 
fled  away  with  her.  His  horse  was  large  and  swift- 
footed,  and  outrun  the  horses  the  savages  rode,  so  lie  got 
13* 


298  DEFEATED. 

away  in  safety.  Then  another  prince  came,  who  was 
very  bad  and  wicked,  and  it  was  said  the  young  lady 
was  to  marry  him.  But  she  did  not  like  him  at  all. 
So  she  went  to  church  all  the  time,  and  at  last  went 
back  to  this  very  band  of  savages  as  a  missionary. 

"  The  young  prince  who  had  rescued  her  was  after 
ward  traveling  through  the  country  inhabited  by  this 
band  of  savages,  and  he  was  taken  prisoner  and  con 
fined  in  a  loathsome  dungeon.  When  the  young  lady 
heard  that,  she  came  to  see  him  and  planned  a  way  for 
him  to  escape.  There  was  another  man  chained  to  him 
in  the  prison,  so  he  did  not  like  to  tell  her  how  much 
he  loved  her,  before  him.  After  the  prince  escaped 
from  that  country  she  came  away  too,  and  he  went  to 
see  her.  One  day,  as  he  was  walking  along  with  her, 
he  was  just  telling  her  how  much  he  loved  her,  when 
her  duenna  came  up  and  he  could  not  finish  the 
sentence.  The  next  day,  her  father,  who  wras  a  wicked 
old  man,  came  and  carried  her  off  to  another  savage 
country  farther  away  than  where  she  was  the  first  time. 
The  government  of  that  country  was  very  despotic, 
and  whoever  went  there  was  always  put  into  a  dungeon. 
So  the  young  prince  could  not  go  there  at  all.  This 
was  all  in  the  c  dark  ages.'  ' 

"  Why  don't  you  go  on  ?"  said  Dawson. 

"  That's  all  there  is  of  it." 

"  There's  no  point  to  that  story." 

"  You  are  blinder  than  a  bat,"  said  Wilmot. 

About  a  week  afterward  it  flashed  over  Dawson 
all  at  once  what  that  story  meant. 


A    COUKT.MAETIAL.  299 

CHAPTEE    XXXIX. 

A    COUKT-MARTIAL. 

T  was  not  long  after  Agent  Hildreth  took 
charge  of  aifairs  at  the  Agency  until  there 
was  no  beef  and  only  a  very  little  black 
flour.  The  starving  process  was  begun  in 
earnest.  Haggard  women,  with  skinny,  bony  babies 
on  their  backs,  were  hanging  about  the  Agency,  some  of 
them  with  only  an  old,  torn  blanket  for  covering. 
When  the  chiefs  called  on  Hildreth  he  told  them  that 
the  contractors  were  not  furnishing  the  supplies  as  they 
had  agreed.  It  was  not  his  fault.  He  had  written  to 
the  Great  Father,  and  done  all  he  could.  After  about 
three  weeks  of  starvation  he  called  a  general  council. 
He  told  them  that  he  had  received  a  letter  from  the 
Great  Father.  The  letter  said  he  was  very  sorry  for 
them.  There  was  fifty  thousand  dollars  due  them, 
which  was  to  be  paid  in  cash.  If  they  were  hungry,  the 
Great  Father  had  ordered  the  trader  to  let  them  have 
all  they  wanted,  and  when  the  money  came,  they  could 
pay  the  trader. 

In  answer  to  this  Red  Iron  said  he  would  consent 
to  no  such  an  arrangement.  He  understood  that  the 
treaty  he  had  made  with  the  Great  Father  provided 
for  rations  to  be  issued  to  them  for  thirty  years,  that 
they  were  to  have  schools,  farming  implements  and  a 
man  to  teach  them  how  to  farm.  As  yet,  he  had  seen 


300  A     COURT-MARTIAL. 

none  of  these  things.  A  woman  came  and  taught  school 
for  a  little  while,  but  the  Inspector  had  sent  her  away. 

Hildreth  told  them  he  could  not  help  them.  He 
had  read  the  Great  Father's  letter  to  them.  If  any  of 
them  were  hungry  they  could  go  to  the  trader's  store 
and  get  provisions.  It  was  there  for  them.  The 
council  then  broke  up. 

After  this,  Hed  Iron  got  his  people  together  and 
made  a  speech  to  them.  He  told  them  if  they  Were 
starving  to  go  to  the  trader's  store,  but  to  get  just  as 
little  as  possible,  or  when  the  money  came  from  the 
Great  Father  they  would  get  none,  they  would  owe  it 
all  to  the  trader. 

No  pen  can  describe  the  suffering  that  was  endured 
during  the  months  that  followed.  The  Indians  got 
just  as  little  as  possible  from  the  trader.  ~No  annuities 
or  rations  were  issued  to  them  at  all  by  the  agent. 
There  were  no  troops  at  the  Agency  now.  Lieutenant 
Blake  and  the  detachment  under  his  command  had 
been  ordered  back  to  the  fort  on  the  Little  Blue. 

When  Perkins  reached  the  fort  on  his  way  to  his 
agency  he  stopped  for  a  few  days.  While  there  he 
was  very  intimate  with  Lieutenant  Blake,  and  the 
Lieutenant  was  very  glad  to  have  some  one  to  be 
intimate  with,  for  he  was  in  very  bad  order  at  the 
fort.  Permanent  quarters  had  been  built,  and  a  good 
many  of  the  officers  had  their  families  there.  He 
was  not  admitted  to  the  social  circles  of  the  garrison. 
Blake  complained  to  Perkins  of  the  treatment  he 
received,  and  especially  of  the  commanding  officer, 


A    COUET-MARTIAL.  301 

Colonel  Greene.  Perkins  hated  Colonel  Greene  as  much 
as  Lieutenant  Blake  did.  One  day  Perkins  said  to  him  : 

"  Has  a  Colonel  any  right  to  communicate  directly 
with  the  President  ?" 

"  No,  certainly  not.  He  could  be  court-martialed 
for  it." 

"  I  can  tell  you  how  you  can  get  even  with  Colonel 
Greene.  He  wrote  a  letter  directly  to  the  President 
about  affairs  at  this  post." 

"  You  must  be  mistaken  ;  he  never  would  do  that." 

"  No,  I'm  not  mistaken.     I've  got  the  letter." 

"  Are  you  sure  it  is  his  handwriting  ?" 

"  Would  you  know  his  writing  if  you  saw  it  ?" 

"  Of  course  I  would." 

"Well,  then,  I'll  bring  you  the  letter,  and  you  can 
judge  for  yourself." 

Perkins  went  to  his  trunk  and  got  the  letter  which 
Colonel  Greene  had  written  to  the  President,  at  the 
earnest  request  of  the  head  men  of  Badger's  band. 

When  Lieutenant  Blake  saw  the  familiar  hand 
writing  his  eyes  gleamed  in  triumph. 

"Let  me  have  this  letter,"  he  said.  "I'll  settle 
him." 

"  What  will  you  do  ?"  asked  Perkins. 

"  I  will  prefer  charges  against  him,  and  have  him 
court-martialed.  That's  what  I'll  do." 

A  court-martial  was  accordingly  convened,  and 
Colonel  Greene  found  guilty.  All  he  could  do  was  to 
plead  extenuating  circumstances.  He  was  sentenced  to 
be  suspended  from  the  service  for  six  months,  and  all 
pay  and  allowances  stopped. 


302  A    COURT-MARTIAL. 

When  Wilmot  heard  of  this  he  remarked  :  "  There's 
another  man  who  has  been  made  to  feel  the  hand  of 
power  for  meddling  with  the  arrangements  of  the  In 
dian  King." 

Colonel  Coldcraf t  took  command  of  the  fort  after 
Colonel  Greene  was  removed.  He  was  an  entirely  dif 
ferent  officer  from  his  predecessor.  When  it  was  said 
of  him  that  he  was  a  soldier,  that  was  all  that  was  to  be 
said.  Nothing  would  put  a  subaltern  out  of  favor  with 
him  quicker  than  to  intimate  that  he  had  opinions. 
Colonel  Coldcraft  held  that  no  officer,  no  matter  what 
his  rank,  had  any  right  to  opinions.  War  was  a  sci 
ence.  There  was  no  place  for  opinions  for  anybody 
who  had  entered  the  army.  He  should  understand  his 
profession,  and  obey  orders.  As  far  as  lie  was  con 
cerned,  he  knew  every  detail,  from  a  linch-pin  of  a 
wagon  to  the  exact  amount  of  powder  to  be  used  in  a 
siege-gun  at  two  thousand  yards  to  produce  the  greatest 
effect.  His  very  religion  consisted  in  obeying  orders. 
For  the  result  he  had  no  concern  whatever.  Every 
thing  must  be  done  in  exact  conformity  with  the  orders 
and  the  regulations.  He  had  no  mercy  on  any  one  for 
the  slightest  variation  from  the  letter  of  the  orders. 

About  a  week  after  he  took  command,  an  Indian, 
belonging  to  a  small  tribe  located  to  the  south  of  the 
fort,  was  one  day  standing  near  the  post  trader's  store. 
There  was  a  well  there,  and  the  Indian  drew  a  bucket 
of  water.  As  he  was  holding  up  the  bucket  trying  to 
drink  out  of  it,  a  clerk  in  the  store  came  up  and  said  he 
would  hold  it.  As  the  Indian  commenced  to  drink  the 
clerk  poured  the  cold  water  all  over  him.  The  Indian 


A    COURT-MARTIAL.  303 

was  a  quick-tempered  man,  and,  snatching  an  arrow  out 
of  his  quiver,  stabbed  the  man  to  the  heart.  It  was 
done  in  a  lit  of  passion,  and  before  he  thought.  As 
soon  as  he  saw  what  he  had  done  lie  ran  away. 

Colonel  Coldcraft  made  a  report  of  the  affair  in 
due  form.  It  was  forwarded  to  Washington  through 
the  regular  channels,  and  a  copy  was  furnished  the 
Secretary  of  the  Interior.  Shortly  afterward  Colonel 
Coldcraft  received  an  order  to  demand  the  Indian  of 
the  tribe,  and  if  he  was  not  turned  over  to  his  custody 
in  fifteen  days  to  make  war  upon  them.  In  conformity 
with  this  order  he  sent  an  officer  to  the  tribe,  who  made 
the  demand,  and  told  them  the  consequence  of  a 
failure  to  deliver  the  culprit. 

Consternation  seized  the  Indians  when  this  message 
was  delivered.  A  council  was  called  immediately.  The 
tribe  was  a  small  one,  and  they  very  well  understood 
that  war  meant  extermination.  The  head  chief's  name 
was  Wajapa.  He  was  a  man  of  about  middle  life,  tall 
and  dignified.  He  said  to  his  people  that  every  effort 
must  be  made  to  find  this  man.  All  their  lives  de 
pended  upon  it.  Every  man  must  start  out,  and  not 
cease  to  search.  If  he  was  not  found  in  fourteen  days, 
they  must  all  return  to  camp,  and  another  council  would 
be  held.  He  then  went  to  the  officer  and  told  him 
that  they  would  make  every  effort  in  their  power  to  find 
the  man,  and  deliver  him,  either  dead  or  alive,  in  the 
time  specified. 

During  the  days  which  followed  the  Indians  searched 
over  the  whole  country,  and  visited  every  neighboring 


304  A    COUKT-MARTIAL. 

band  and  tribe,  but  the  culprit  could  not  be  found. 
Wajapa  went  to  Colonel  Coldcraft  and  said  : 

"  We  have  done  all  we  can  do.  There  are  two  days 
remaining  yet,  and  we  will  search  for  this  man.  I 
pledge  you  if  he  is  not  found  in  that  time  we  will  con 
tinue  to  hunt  for  him.  We  will  watch  day  and  night, 
and  if  we  ever  find  him  we  will  bring  you  his 
body." 

"  My  orders  were,"  said  the  Colonel,  "  to  demand 
this  Indian  of  his  tribe ;  and  if  he  was  not  surrendered 
in  fifteen  days,  to  make  war  on  the  tribe." 

"  But  we  can't  find  him,"  said  Wajapa.  "  We  have 
hunted  everywhere  for  him.  He  did  not  come  back  to 
his  tribe  after  he  committed  this  murder." 

"  You  have  heard  what  the  orders  were.  That  is  all 
I  have  to  say,"  replied  the  Colonel. 

Wajapa  went  back  to  his  camp.  On  the  night  of 
the  fourteenth  day  all  the  Indians  returned,  and  a  coun 
cil  was  held.  After  the  chief  told  them  the  result  of 
his  visit  to  the  fort,  two  or  three  went  to  one  side, 
pulled  their  blankets  over  their  heads,  and  began  to  sing 
their  death-song. 

There  was  silence  in  the  council  for  some  minutes, 
when  an  Indian  by  the  name  of  Two  Crow  arose.  He 
was  a  man  of  medium  hight,  rather  slight,  had  an  intel 
ligent  and  mild  countenance,  and  was  respected  and 
loved  by  the  whole  tribe.  His  family  consisted  of  one 
wife  and  five  little  children,  to  whom  he  was  very  much 
attached.  He  spoke  as  follows  : 

u  My  friends :  This  is  a  sad  day  for  us  all.  We  have 
met  perhaps  in  our  last  council.  If  the  white  officer 


A    COURT-  MARTIAL.  305 

makes  war  upon  us  lie  will  kill  us  all.  There  are  but 
very  few  of  us.  He  has  a  great  many  warriors.  It 
will  not  take  him  long  to  kill  us.  He  will  go  out  one 
day  and  come  back  the  next.  Our  tents  will  be  silent 
and  our  dead  bodies  will  lie  upon  the  ground.  Now  it 
is  better  for  one  to  die  than  that  all  should  be  killed  ; 
all  our  women  and  the  little  children.  Kill  me.  Take 
my  dead  body  and  lay  it  down  at  the  feet  of  the  white 
officer  and  save  the  lives  of  the  women  and  children." 

Two  Crow  folded  his  blanket  around  him  and 
looked  up  toward  heaven.  Not  an  Indian  said  a  word 
for  a  long  time.  Then  the  old  medicine  man  of  the  tribe 
stood  up.  He  made  a  long  prayer  to  the  Great  Spirit. 
When  he  had  finished,  he  took  a  rifle,  placed  the 
muzzle  against  Two  Crow's  head,  and  fired. 

All  night  long  the  whole  tribe,  men,  women  and 
children,  wailed  for  Two  Crow.  In  the  morning  they 
wrapped  the  body  in  a  blanket,  placed  it  on  a  litter 
behind  a  pony  arid  took  it  to  the  fort.  The  chiefs 
waited  for  the  coining  of  Colonel  Coldcraft,  laid  the 
body  down  at  his  feet,  and  walked  away. 

An  hour  afterward  one  of  the  interpreters,  who 
had  a  grudge  against  the  tribe,  and  hated  them  with 
all  the  malignity  of  an  evil  nature,  came  to  Colonel 
Coldcraft  and  told  him  that  that  was  not  the  body  of 
the  Indian  who  committed  the  crime.  When  the 
interpreter  told  him  that,  the  Colonel  came  nearer 
having  an  opinion  than  he  ever  did  in  all  his  life 
before. 

"  Why  did  you  tell  me  that  ?"  said  he. 

"  It's  the  truth.     I  can  prove  it  by  a  dozen  men." 


306  A    COURT-MARTIAL. 

Before  taking  any  action  Colonel  Coldcraft  made  a 
full  report  of  the  whole  transaction,  and  asked  for 
orders.  The  report  was  forwarded  to  Washington  and 
laid  before  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior. 

A  short  time  after  this  Colonel  Coldcraft  received 
orders  to  make  war  on  this  tribe,  as  it  was  the  opinion 
of  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  that  the  production  of 
the  dead  body  with  a  bullet  wound  in  the  head  was 
only  a  ruse.  They  had  committed  another  murder 
without  any  doubt,  having  killed  some  one  of  the 
friendly  Indians  who  had  a  reservation  near  them. 
Colonel  Coldcraft  obeyed  his  orders.  He  made  war 
upon  this  little  band,  if  war  it  could  be  called,  and  so 
many  of  them  were  killed  that  they  became  extinct  as 
a  tribe,  the  few  who  escaped  with  their  lives  being 
adoptod  into  other  tribes. 

When  Wilmot  heard  of  this  he  said  : 

"  That's  another  specimen  of  our  Indian  policy. 
Make  a  whole  community  responsible  for  the  act  of  one 
man,  and  shoot  them  down,  men,  women  and  children. 
If  I  were  a  member  of  that  tribe,  I  would  never  cease 
to  shoot  and  scalp,  as  long  as  I  could  hold  a  gun  or 
handle  a  knife." 


A    SECKET    COUNCIL.  307 

CHAPTEE  XL. 

A   SECRET   COUNCIL. 

FFAIRS  grew  worse  and  worse  at  Red  Iron's 
Agency.  The  young  men  became  discon 
tented,  and  blamed  the  chiefs  for  making 
such  a  treaty  with  the  whites.  They  had 
always  been  accustomed  to  going  on  long  hunts  two  or 
three  times  a  year,  which  furnished  them  with  excite 
ment  and  occupation.  ISTow,  the  chiefs  told  them  they 
must  stay  on  the  reservation.  An  Indian  is  by 
nature  of  a  nervous  and  active  temperament.  This  con 
finement  on  a  reservation  was  a  good  deal  like  imprison 
ment  to  them.  They  grew,  as  it  is  called  in  the  official 
reports,  "restless."  Small  parties,  at  different  times, 
ran  away  and  paid  visits  to  other  tribes.  When  they 
came  back  they  always  brought  a  lot  of  horses  with 
them.  Whenever  Indians  visit  another  tribe,  it  is  their 
custom  to  give  the  visitors  presents  of  horses,  blankets, 
or  anything  they  have.  A  great  many  of  them  get 
arms  in  some  mysterious  manner.  Nobody  has  ever 
been  able  to  find  out  how  Indians  get  arms.  A  late 
Secretary  of  the  Interior  has  "  officially  "  informed  the 
public  that  the  statement  that  the  traders  furnished 
them  was  a  slander,  which  originated  with  the  officers 
of  the  army.  As  it  would  never  do  to  intimate  that  an 
"  official"  statement  of  a  Cabinet  officer  could,  by  any 
possibility,  be  incorrect,  the  question  how  Indians 


308  A     SECRET    COUNCIL. 

get  arras,  must  remain  unanswered.  But  that  they  do 
get  them,  and  get  the  most  approved  patterns,  too,  is 
not  denied  by  even  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior. 

Having  got  arms,  and  a  pretty  good  supply  of 
horses,  the  young  men  began  to  feel  very  independent. 
They  did  not  exactly  defy  the  authority  of  the  chiefs, 
but  they  did  a  good  deal  of  talking  about  what  the 
chiefs  ought  to  do,  and  a  great  deal  more  grumbling 
about  what  they  had  done  They  operated  upon  the 
jealousy  existing  among  the  chiefs.  Little  Wolf  had 
never  thoroughly  recovered  his  standing  since  his  defeat 
in  the  fight  with  Wilrnot,  and  the  young  men  turned  to 
him  for  a  leader.  Several  of  the  more  venturesome 
even  left  their  own  bands  and  got  adopted  into  his,  so 
that  Little  Wolf  had  the  largest  band  in  the  tribe.  One 
day  he  had  a  council  of  his  band,  to  listen  to  what  the 
young  men  had  to  say. 

When  they  got  to  speech-making,  they  had  all  sorts 
of  grievances  to  relate.  The}7"  blamed  the  chiefs  for 
agreeing  to  stay  on  a  reservation.  They  wanted  the 
treaty  altered  so  that  they  could  go  on  a  visit  to  another 
tribe  just  as  often  as  they  wished.  They  wanted  the 
new  treaty  to  state  just  how  many  beef  cattle  they  were 
to  have  each  week,  just  how  many  sacks  of  flour,  bags 
of  coffee,  barrels  of  sugar  and  pork,  and  then  they 
could  count  them  themselves,  and  know  whether  they 
got  what  was  due  them  or  not.  They  were  hungry  all 
the  time  now,  and  the  chiefs  would  not  let  them  get 
enough  to  eat  of  the  trader.  The  trader  would  not  let 
them  have  things  sometimes.  His  store  was  about 
empty,  arid  they  didn't  believe  he  was  going  to  get  any 


A     SECRET    COUNCIL.  309 

more.  What  lie  let  them  have  was  not  fit  to  eat. 
They  did  not  get  any  fresh  meat  at  all,  nothing  but  salt 
pork,  and  that  had  a  very  bad  taste.  They  didn't  get 
any  flour.  He  let  them  have  some  black  stuff  which  he 
called  flour,  but  they  did  not  know  what  it  was.  It 
wasn't  fit  to  eat.  The  Great  Father  had  broken  the 
treaty  anyhow,  and  it  was  "  no  good  "  any  more.  They 
wanted  a  new  one,  the  right  kind  of  a  one.  They 
didn't  believe  the  Great  Father  would  ever  send  them 
any  money.  After  this  fashion  they  talked  for  three 
hours.  Then  Little  Wolf  made  them  a  speech.  He 
was  a  thorough  politician.  He  commenced  by  compli 
menting  them  very  highly. 

"  No  chief,"  said  he,  "  ever  had  such  warriors  around 
him  as  I  see  here  to-day.  It  is  said  that  young  men 
do  not  know  much,  that  they  ought  to  listen  and  not  to 
talk,  and  they  should  obey  the  counsel  of  the  old  men. 
In  most  tribes  that  is  so.  But  when  I  listen  to  you  to 
day,  I  look  to  see  if  your  hairs  are  gray.  You  have 
spoken  what  is  true.  You  talk  like  old  men.  What 
I  have  heard  are  words  of  wisdom.  The  treaty  is  bad. 
I  did  not  like  it  when  it  was  m  ide,  and  I  was  the  last 
one  to  touch  the  pen.  But  the  Great  Father  won't 
make  a  treaty  with  one  band.  It  must  be  with  the 
whole  tribe.  I  want  to  go  and  see  my  friends,  but  I 
cannot  go.  I  am,  as  it  were,  a  prisoner.  My  wives  and 
children  are  hungry,  and  I  have  nothing  to  give  them 
to  eat.  Unless  we  make  a  new  treaty  we  shall  soon  all 
be  dead.  I'm  in  favor  of  making  a  new  treaty.  What 
you  ask  is  right.  The  chiefs  ought  to  do  it.  I  am  but 
one  chief.  Some  of  the  others  must  agree  to  it." 


310  '  A    SECRET    COUNCIL. 

This  speech  was  greeted  with  tremendous  accla 
mations  of  approval.  The  young  men  declared  that 
Little  Wolf  was  the  wisest  and  greatest  chief  who  ever 
lived.  When  the  council  broke  up  and  the  young  men 
from  the  other  bands  who  were  present  went  back  to 
their  tents,  they  were  loud  in  their  praise  of  Little  Wolf. 
They  said  if  they  had  him  for  head  chief,  instead  of 
Red  Iron,  they  would  soon  have  every-thing  just  as 
they  wanted  it. 

Day  by  day  Little  Wolfs  influence  increased,  until 
he  had  with  him  a  majority  of  the  tribe.  Then  a  gen 
eral  council  was  held  among  themselves.  At  the  time 
this  council  was  called,  the  whole  tribe  was  in  a  terrible 
condition.  The  trader  had  furnished  them  but  very 
little  to  eat  for  some  weeks ;  many  of  them  were  so  weak 
they  could  hardly  walk.  For  days  they  had  constantly 
been  suffering  from  hunger.  Skinny  little  children, 
crawled  around  the  tents.  Hollow-eyed  and  haggard 
mothers  pressed  starving  babes  to  bosoms  which  fur 
nished  no  nourishment  for  them.  Many  died  from 
disease,  engendered  by  want  of  sufficient  food.  When 
the  formal  council  was  convened,  the  young  men  kept 
silent,  and  the  chiefs  talked.  Red  Iron  arose  and  made 
a  long  and  fervent  prayer  to  the  Great-Holy-One.  Some 
mysterious  ceremonies  were  then  gone  through  with  by 
the  medicine  man,  intended  to  appease  the  Great  Spirit 
and  secure  his  favor.  After  this,  whatever  the  decision 
of  this  council  might  be,  no  man  dare  oppose  it. 

In  ordinary  councils,  when  comparatively  trivial 
matters  are  under  consideration,  there  is  generally  a  great 
deal  of  speech-making,  but  in  a  weighty  matter  like 


A     SECRET    COUNCIL.  311 

this,  wliere  all  their  lives  seem  to  be  at  stake,  no  one 
seemed  to  want  to  speak.  The  pipe  was  passed  around 
a  great  many  times,  and  a  solemnity,  like  the  feeling 
that  some  awful  catastrophe  was  impending,  pervaded 
every  breast.  At  last,  with  a  gravity  that  only  such 
circumstances  could  produce,  Red  Iron  arose. 

"  It -seems,"  said  he,  "  that  I  stood  on  the  bank  of 
a  river,  with  my  people  around  me,  and  little  by  little 
the  bank  was  falling  away,  and  now  it  had  reached  to 
our  very  feet.  When  I  turn  to  flee  away,  there  is  a 
great  army  of  white  soldiers,  with  fixed  bayonets  and 
guns  that  shoot  many  times,  behind  me.  They  say,  if 
you  come  this  way  we  will  kill  you.  If  I  stand  still,  I 
will  fall  in.  Then  I  raise  my  voice  to  the  Great  Spirit, 
and  say :  Why  have  you  forsaken  me  ?  But  he  an 
swers  not.  When  I  turn  to  my  young  men,  they  say  : 
Go  back  from  the  river's  brink.  Let  us  kill  the  sol 
diers.  The  soldiers  stand  there  and  laugh.  There  are 
many,  many,  many  thousands  of  them.  My  young  men 
are  so  few  that  I  can  call  all  their  names  at  once.  Dark 
ness  comes  on.  The  river  roars  at  my  feet.  The  sol 
diers  crowd  up  closer  behind  me.  Then  I  look  away 
through  darkness,  and  I  see  a  little  path  which  goes 
down  by  the  river's  side.  It  is  very  narrow,  and  hard 
to  walk  in.  It  goes  on  and  on  for  many  days'  journey. 
Toward  the  latter  end  it  gets  broader,  and  is  smooth  and 
easy  to  walk  in.  At  the  end  there  is  a  pleasant  place  to 
live.  Through  the  ranks  of  the  soldiers  there  comes 
one  white  man.  He  takes  me  by  the  hand,  and  says  Le 
is  my  friend.  I  ask  him  where  the  little  path  leads  to, 
and  if  there  are  any  soldiers  who  will  stand  across  it 


312  A     SECRET    COUNCIL. 

and  say  :  Yon  cannot  go  by  this  path.  My  friend  says 
that  once  his  people  stood  by  the  bank  of  a  river,  and 
another  nation  came  more  powerful  than  they.  They 
saw  a  path  just  like  that.  They  walked  in  it  for  many, 
many  years,  and  finally  they  came  to  the  great  country, 
where  they  all  became  rich.  I  say  to-day  to  my  young 
men  :  Let  us  go  down  by  the  river's  side.  Let  us  fol 
low  the  little  path,  as  the  white  men  have  done.  But 
they  say  no.  The  Great  Spirit  made  us  Indians.  He 
did  not  intend  for  us  to  live  like  white  men.  We 
will  not  walk  in  the  little  path. 

"  Then  a  powerful  chief  arises.  He  has  a  great  many 
warriors,  and  they  are  very  brave.  They  do  not  fear 
to  die.  He  says  the  young  men  are  right — that  the 
old  chief  is  childish.  But  the  old  chief  remembers 
when  he  talked  that  way  before.  He  went  on  the  war 
path  with  a  great  many  brave  warriors.  When  he 
came  back  they  were  not  with  him.  The  old  chief  has 
been  on  the  war-path  too.  But  when  he  came  back  his 
warriors  came  also.  I  want  to  make  a  new  treaty,  and 
when  I  do  make  one,  I  want  an  interpreter  who 
won't  lie.  I  want  the  Great  Father  to  give  us 
plows.  Then  we  will  raise  from  the  ground  what  we 
want  to  eat.  Many  years  ago,  when  our  tribe  lived 
near  the  great  water,  we  had  cornfields  so  large 
that  you  could  not  see  the  end  of  them.  Then  the 
Great  Spirit  was  well  pleased  with  us.  We  had  no 
horses  then.  We  always  lived  in  one  place.  After 
the  white  men  came,  we  got  horses  and  commenced  to 
roam  around.  The  Great  Spirit  has  been  angry  with 


A    SECRET    COUNCIL.  313 

us  ever  since,  and  we  growjess  and  less  every  year. 
The  path  down  by  the  river's  side  leads  to  big  corn 
fields." 

I  am  well  aware  that  the  beautiful  imagery  of  Red 
Iron's  speech  is  but  poorly  indicated  in  the  above  trans 
lation,  the  notes  having  been  taken  from  a  hurried 
interpretation,  made  years  ago.  It  had  a  wonderful 
effect  upon  the  assembled  chiefs  and  warriors  who 
stood  in  the  mass  behind  them.  It  was  expected  by 
the  young  men  that  Little  Wolf  would  make  a  spirited 
reply,  but  he  had  very  little  to  say.  For  days  Little 
Wolf  had  been  cogitating  over  his  speech,  and  he  had 
prepared,  in  his  own  mind,  what  he  considered  to  be  the 
greatest  speech  of  his  life.  He  had  supposed  that  Eed 
Iron  would  oppose  making  a  new  treaty,  but  when 
that  wise  and  wily  old  chieftain  had  finished,  Little 
Wolf  found  that  his  set  speech,  if  he  delivered  it,  would 
only  strengthen  Eed  Iron's  influence,  so  he  kept  silent. 
Bed  Iron  had  stolen  his  thunder. 

The  decision  of  the  council  was,  that  they  would 
apply  to  the  agent  for  permission  to  go  to  Washington 
and  make  a  new  treaty.  When  they  came  to  Hildreth, 
he  listened  to  what  they  had  to  say,  told  them  he  would 
write  to  the  Great  Father  about  it,  and  then  went  over 
and  saw  Parker.  The  two  men  had  a  good  laugh  over 
it,  and  that  ended  the  matter. 
U 


314:  A    REPORTER    AND    A    PRIEST. 

CHAPTER  XLI. 

A  REPORTER    AND   A   PRIEST. 


FEW  days  after  this  a  correspondent  of  a 
great  New  York  newspaper  came  to  the 
Agency.  As  soon  as  it  was  known  who  he 
was,  the  greatest  consideration  was  shown 
him.  He  had  a  letter  from  Commissioner  Clark, 
introducing  him  to  the  agent,  and  said  that  he  had  been 
requested  by  Mr.  Clark  to  come  to  the  Agency  if  he 
possibly  could,  make  an  examination  of  the  condition 
pf  the  Indians,  and  write  a  full  account  of  it  for  his 
paper.  Hildreth  got  out  his  horses  and  carriage,  and 
showed  him  all  the  places  of  interest  in  the  neighbor 
hood.  After  this  he  took  him  to  his  office  and  showed 
him  a  big  bundle  of  papers,  purporting  to  be  vouchers 
for  the  money  spent  at  the  Agency.  A  summary  of 
these  he  had  on  one  sheet.  These  figures  showed  that 
the  hundred  thousand  dollars  appropriated  had  nearly 
all  been  consumed  in  removing  the  Indians  and  con 
structing  the  Agency  buildings.  There  was  nothing 
left  to  buy  rations,  and  the  Indians  were  actually 
starving. 

Hildreth  then  praised  the  Indians  for  their  patience, 
and  said  that  no  other  people  on  earth  would  ever  have 
endured  what  these  Indians  had.  Yet  they  were  so 
childlike  and  trusting,  that  they  had  hardly  uttered  a 
complaint,  after  he  had  told  them  that  the  Great 


A    REPORTER    AND    A    PRIEST.  315 

Father  had  so  many  red  children  to  feed,  that  he  had 
spent  nearly  all  the  money  he  had,  but  that  pretty  soon 
he  would  have  some  more  and  then  he  would  send  it. 
Ever  since  that  they  had  been  patiently  waiting. 

"  Now,"  said  Hildreth,  "  before  you  leave  the 
reserve,  I  want  you  to  go  with  me  into  some  of  their 
camps  and  see  the  suffering.  It  is  almost  enough  to 
break  a  man's  heart." 

The  article  written  by  this  correspondent  was  one 
of  the  most  tender  and  pathetic  stories  I  ever  read.  1 
have  only  room  to  insert  one  short  paragraph. 

"I  went,"  said  the  reporter,  "into  one  lodge, 
and  saw  two  small,  almost  fleshless,  children  sitting  on 
the  ground.  Their  lips  were  thin  and  their  cheeks 
hollow.  In  each  of  their  little,  bony  hands  they  had  a 
few  grains  of  corn,  which  had  just  been  given  to  them, 
and  they  were  eating  it  ravenously.  Lying  on  a 
blanket  near  them  was  a  woman  and  by  her  side  a 
little  babe.  It  was  very  still.  The  mother  laid  her 
hand  lovingly  on  its  head.  She,  herself,  was  almost  a 
skeleton.  She  did  not  seem  to  notice  me.  As  I  stood 
there,  I  saw  the  tears  coursing  one  another  down  over 
her  hollow  cheeks.  Her  baby  was  dying.  As  I  came 
out  of  the  lodge  I  met  a  large,  bronzed  white  man. 
He  was  dressed  in  a  suit  of  buckskin.  I  said  to  him 
that  these  people  were  sick.  '  No,'  he  replied,  '  I  wish 
it  was  sickness,  but  it  is  starvation.' ': 

No  body  of  men  ever  received  such  a  terrible  up 
braiding  as  Congress  did  at  the  hands  of  this  writer  for 
its  niggardly  policy  in  regard  to  these  Indians. 

The  correspondent  desired  to  get  at  the  truth  of  mat- 


316  A    REPORTER    AND    A    PRIEST. 

ters,  so  he  asked  Hildreth  for  an  interview  with  the 
head  chief.  The  agent  sent  for  Red  Iron,  and  he 
came  to  the  Agency. 

It  was  explained  to  Red  Iron  that  this  man  had  a  big 
newspaper  (word  carrier,  the  Indians  call  it),  and  that 
if  he  wished  to  say  anything  to  the  white,  people,  this 
man  would  print  it  in  his  paper.  Red  Iron  knew 
nothing  about  the  man,  and  he  was  both  suspicions  and 
afraid  of  Hildreth,  so  lie  did  not  know  exactly  what  to 
say.  He  told  him  that  his  people  were  very  anxious  to 
learn  the  ways  of  the  white  people ;  he  wanted  schools 
where  the  children  could  be  taught,  and  he  wanted  a 
missionary  to  tell  them  what  was  in  the  Book  which 
the  Great  Spirit  had  given  to  the  white  people.  He 
thought  he  might  say  that  much  with  safety,  anyhow. 

The  reporter  made  this  statement  very  prominent 
in  his  letter,  and  remarked  that  here  was  a  heathen  in 
our  own  country,  holding  out  his  hands,  asking  for  the 
Bible  and  a  missionary,  and  while  the  churches  were 
sending  hundreds  to  Africa  and  China,  none  of  them 
heard  his  cry. 

This  article,  which  was  widely  copied  and  read 
by  many  thousands  of  people,  happened  to  fall  into  the 
hands  of  a  poor  Catholic  priest  in  the  city  of  New 
York.  The  idea  of  that  poor  Indian  begging  to  be 
taught  so  weighed  upon  his  mind  that  he  went  to  his 
Bishop  and  got  permission  to  go  out  to  him.  When  he 
arrived  at  the  Missouri  river,  he  went  to  the  Catholic 
Bishop  having  jurisdiction  in  that  part  of  the  country, 
and  obtained  his  sanction  and  blessing,  and  then  went 
on  to  Red  Iron's  camp.  The  old  chief  did  not  live  in 


A    KEPOKTEK    AND    A    PKIEST.  317 

a  tent — lie  had  built  himself  a  rude  house.  When  the 
priest  arrived  he  was  so  delighted  that  he  told  him  he 
would  move  out  and  let  the  priest  live  in  the  house  and 
teach  school,  aud  he  would  live  in  a  tent.  But  the 
priest  said  no,  he  would  not  do  that.  So  Red  Iron  put 
up  a  tent  for  him  beside  his  house. 

The  next  day  Hildreth  appeared  and  ordered  him  to 
leave  the  reservation.  The  priest  said  he  had  come 
there  to  instruct  the  children  and  teach  the  Christian 
religion  to  the  Indians. 

"  But  this  reservation  has  been  assigned  to  another 
denomination  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,"  said 
Hildreth.  "  1  cannot  allow  you  to  reman.  I  give  you 
orders  to  leave." 

"  There  is  no  missionary  of  any  kind  here,"  said  the 
priest,  "  and  no  school." 

This  was  correct,  for  the  man  who  was  announced 
as  a  missionary  when  Mr.  Parkman  was  expelled,  only 
remained  about  a  week.  The  agency  pay-roll  showed 
that  there  was  a  teacher  receiving  the  salary.  It  was 
the  wife  of  one  of  the  employees  who  signed  the  pay 
roll,  and  the  salary  was  divided  with  Hildreth.  She 
had  not  taught  a  day. 

The  priest  went  on  to  say  that  he  should  interfere 
with  nobody,  and  that  he  should  not  leave.  He  woiild 
make  no  resistance,  but  he  would  not  go  off  from  the 
reservation  unless  he  was  carried  off. 

The  next  morning  a  light  spring  wagon  was  driven 
up,  the  priest  was  lifted  up  and  put  into  it  and  driven 
off  the  reservation,  a  distance  of  about  ninety  miles,  to 
the  first  station  outside,  and  left  there. 


318  A    EEPOETEK    AND    A    PKIEST. 

He  got  aboard  of  the  first  conveyance  that  was  going 
to  the  reservation,  and  started  back.  Red  Iron  heard 
that  he  was  coming.  I  don't  know  how  he  heard  it ; 
the  swiftness  with  which  news  is  spread  among  Indians 
always  was  a  mystery  to  me  ;  but  in  some  way  he  heard 
it  in  time  to  go  out  and  meet  the  priest,  just  outside  of 
the  reservation.  He  told  the  priest  that  it  would  never 
do  for  him  to  come  there,  it  might  make  war ;  but  to  stop 
just  over  the  line,  and  he  would  send  some  of  the  young 
men  to  help  him  build  a  house.  After  the  house  was 
finished  he  would  send  some  of  the  children  to  him  to 
be  taught. 

When  the  Bishop  at  the  Missouri  river  was  informed 
of  what  had  happened,  he  started  immediately  to 
Washington.  He  went  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior, 
who  received  him  in  his  most  cordial  manner.  He 
wiped  off  his  glasses,  leaned  back  in  his  chair,  and 
smiled  his  most  fascinating  smile.  To  everything  the 
Bishop  said,  he  replied,  "  Certainly,  certainly."  He 
was  as  "  child-like  and  bland  "  as  the  Heathen  Chinee. 
The  Bishop  was  finally  informed  that  while  the  griev 
ance  of  which  he  spoke  was  a  serious  one,  nothing 
could  be  done  without  action  by  Congress.  Then  the 
Bishop  laid  the  matter  before  the  Indian  Committee  of 
the  House.  They  all  agreed  with  him  that  it  was  a 
great  outrage,  and  a  Congressman  drew  up  a  bill  to 
grant  religious  liberty  to  the  Indians.  The  Bishop 
was  informed  that  it  would  be  passed  immediately. 

The  bill  lies  in  a  pigeon-hole  of  the  Indian  Com 
mittee  to  this  day. 


A  "STRAIGHT"  TRANSACTION.  319 

CHAPTER  XLIL 
^  "STRAIGHT"  TRANSACTION. 

HE  newspaper  correspondent's  account  of 
affairs  at  Red  Iron's  agency  created  con 
siderable  discussion  and  accomplished  its 
purpose.  It  enabled  Perkins'  congressional 
friend  to  get  through  his  bill  for  an  additional  ap 
propriation  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars 
for  the  relief  of  the  tribe.  Neither  the  correspondent, 
the  editor  of  the  paper,  nor  the  general  public  ever 
dreamed  that  they  were  being  used  as  tools  of  the 
Indian  Ring. 

Finally,  the  paying  agent  of  the  department  arrived 
at  the  Agency,  and  a  council  was  called.  All  the 
Indians  expected  to  be  paid,  and  nearly  the  whole 
tribe  assembled  at  the  Agency.  When  the  council  was 
convened  the  paying  agent  of  the  department,  Markam, 
and  two  commissioners  who  accompanied  him,  took 
their  seats.  Hildreth  sat  by  Markam,  and  Parker,  the 
trader,  a  little  to  one  side.  The  latter  had  a  huge 
bundle  of  papers  on  a  table  before  him. 

Markam  made  a  long  speech,  telling  them  how  the 
Great  Father  loved  his  red  children.  After  about  half 
an  hour  of  such  palaver,  he  came  down  to  business,  and 
told  Red  Iron  that  the  tribe  owed  the  trader  one 
hundred  and  thirty-five  thousand  dollars,  and  he  wanted 
him  and  the  other  chiefs  to  sign  a  receipt  for  that 


320 

amount,  and  then  he  would  pay  them  the  fifteen  thou 
sand  which  was  still  due  them. 

Just  as  Markam  finished  his  speech,  two  full  com 
panies  of  cavalry  marched  into  the  agency,  ordered 
there  at  the  request  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior. 
Major  Hodson  was  in  command. 

As  soon  as  Jack  fomid  that  Major  Hodson  was 
there  he  went  straight  to  him,  told  him  what  was  going 
on  and  said  that  he  feared  there  would  be  a  general 
uprising  of  the  Indians.  It  was  a  little  more  than  human 
nature  could  stand.  The  Indians  had  been  starving  for 
months,  patiently  waiting  for  this  money  to  come,  and 
now  they  were  told  that  the  trader  was  to  have  it  all. 

"  I  don't  see  that  I  can  do  anything  to  help  them," 
the  Major  replied.  "My  orders  are  to  protect  the 
agent,  his  employees  and  the  commissioners.  I  have 
nothing  to  do  with  the  settlement  of  their  business.  I 
can  only  obey  my  orders.  I  am  practically  under  the 
control  of  Markam." 

In  the  council-room  there  was  intense  excitement. 
It  was  not  manifested  in  the  way  white  men  would  have 
acted.  To  one  unacquainted  with  Indian  character, 
nothing  to  indicate  that  the  Indians  were  excited  would 
have  been  noticed  ;  but  Markam  was  an  old  hand  at  this 
business.  The  last  twenty  years  of  his  life  had  been 
spent,  half  of  it  on  Indian  Commissions,  and  the  other 
half  in  the  East,  lecturing  "  in  behalf  of  the  poor  In 
dian,"  telling  how  badly  they  had  been  abused  by  the 
army,  and  how  niggardly  Congress  had  been  in  making 
appropriations  for  them.  Once  he  had  nearly  lost  his 
life  at  the  hands  of  a  chief,  whose  tribe  he  had  swiii- 


A     "  STEAIGUT  "    TRANSACTION.  321 

died  out  of  everything  they  had.  He  was  desperately 
wounded,  but  as  soon  as  he  recovered  he  went  back 
East,  and  told  the  people  how  he  loved  the  poor  In 
dian  ;  and  although  he  had  been  nearly  killed,  he  did 
not  blame  them.  They  did  not  mean  to  kill  him  at  all. 
They  were  shooting  at  some  very  bad  army  officers. 
Markam  knew  enough  about  Indians  to  know  that  there 
was  serious  trouble  brewing.  So  when  at  last  Red 
Iron  arose  to  speak  he  was  all  attention. 

Markam  noticed  that  he  did  not  come  forward  and 
shake  hands,  as  is  the  invariable  custom  among  them. 
He  turned  to  the  interpreter,  and  said  in  a  stern,  harsh 
voice : 

"  Tell  that  Indian,  if  he  wants  to  make  a  speech,  he 
must  first  come  forward  and  shake  hands  with  me." 

Red  Iron  paid  no  attention  to  this  when  it  was  in 
terpreted  to  him.  He  stood  there  with  a  dignity  and 
consciousness  of  right  about  him  that  ought  to  have 
commanded  the  respect  of  any  man. 

At  last  he  said  : 

"If  the  Commissioner  desires  to  hear  what  we  have 
to  say,  I  will  speak.  If  he  does  not,  we  will  go  back  to 
our  lodges." 

"Tell  him,"  said  Markam,  "to  go  to  his  lodge 
and  stay  there  until  he  can  learn  not  to  be  so  impu 
dent." 

The  Indians  all  left  the  council-room.  Markam 
went  immediately  to  Major  Hodson  and  told  him  that 
Eed  Iron  was  in  open  rebellion,  and  ordered  him  to  be 
arrested  forthwith.  When  Red  Iron  saw  the  file  of 
soldiers  coming,  and  the  remainder  of  the  command  UP 
14* 


322  A 

der  arms,  he  knew  in  a  moment  what  to  expect.  He 
said  a  few  words  to  the  head  men  who  stood  near  him, 
and,  folding  his  blanket  around  him,  stood  erect,  and 
awaited  their  coming.  They  took  him  away  to  the 
guard-house,  put  irons  on  his  wrists  and  ancles,  and  left 
him  there. 

Late  that  afternoon  word  was  sent  to  Little  Wolf 
and  some  of  the  young  men  to  come  to  a  council  after 
dark.  This  was  against  their  custom,  as  Markam  very 
well  knew.  Red  Iron  heard  of  it,  and  sent  out  orders 
to  kill  any  man  on  the  spot  who  dared  to  go.  Not  an 
Indian  responded  to  the  call.  The  next  morning  an 
other  council  was  called,  and  when  the  chiefs  began  to 
assemble  they  found  a  guard  of  soldiers,  who  only  per 
mitted  certain  ones  to  pass  through.  All  the  leading 
men  of  the  tribe  were  excluded,  including  Red  Iron, 
who  had  been  released  from  the  guard-house  that  morn 
ing.  Nothing  was  done  worth  noting  at  this  council. 
The  next  day  they  were  ordered  to  assemble  again. 

Another  hand  has  recorded  that  day's  proceedings 
and  its  results.  I  insert  it  here. 

The  council  was  crowded  with  Indians  and  white 
men  when  Red  Iron  was  brought  in,  guarded  by 
soldiers.  He  was  tall  and  athletic,  about  six  feet  high 
in  his  moccasins,  with  a  large,  well-developed  head, 
aquiline  nose,  thin,  compressed  lips  and  physiognomy 
beaming  with  intelligence  and  resolution.  He  was  clad 
in  the  half-military  costume  of  the  chiefs  of  his  tribe. 
He  was  seated  in  the  council-room  without  greeting 
or  salutation  from  any  one.  In  a  few  moments, 
Markam,  turning  to  the  chief,  in  the  midst  of  a 


A    "  STRAIGHT  "   TRANSACTION.  323 

breathless  silence,  by  the  aid  of  the  interpreter, 
opened  the  council. 

"  What  excuse  have  you,"  he  asked, "  for  not  coming 
to  the  council  when  I  sent  for  you  ?" 

Red  Iron  rose  to  his  feet  with  native  grace  and 
dignity,  his  blanket  falling  from  his  shoulders,  and, 
purposely  dropping  the  pipe  of  peace,  he  stood  erect, 
with  his  arms  folded,  and  his  right  hand  pressed  on  the 
sheath  of  his  scalping  knife.  With  a  firm  voice  he 
replied  : 

"  I  started  to  come,  but  your  braves  drove  me  back. 
I  have  no  other  excuse  to  give." 

"At  the  treaty,"  said  Markam,  "I  thought  you 
a  good  man,  but  since,  you  have  acted  badly.  I  am 
disposed  to  break  you.  I  do  break  you." 

(That  is,  he  deposed  him  from  his  chieftainship,  a 
thing  that  is  very  frequently  done,  when  chiefs  refuse 
to  sign  papers,  after  which  some  one  is  substituted  who 
is  mean  enough,  for  a  small  bribe,  to  do  anything.  I 
know,  personally,  of  five  or  six  such  instances.) 

"  You  break  me  !"  said  Red  Iron.  "  My  people 
made  me  chief,  and  not  you.  My  people  love  me.  I 
will  still  be  their  chief." 

"  Why  did  you  get  your  braves  together  and  march 
around  here  for  the  purpose  of  intimidating  other 
chiefs  and  prevent  them  coming  to  the  council  ?" 

"  I  did  not  get  my  braves  together,"  replied  Red 
Iron,  "they  got  themselves  together  to  prevent  boys 
from  going  to  the  council  to  be  made  chiefs  by  you,  to 
sign  papers,  and  to  prevent  single  chiefs  going  to 
council  at  night,  to  be  bribed  to  sign  papers  for  money 


324  A 

we  never  got.  I  have  heard  how  you  have  served  other 
tribes  ;  that  by  secret  councils  you  get  names  on  paper, 
and  took  away  their  money.  We  don't  want  to  be 
served  so.  My  braves  wanted  to  come  to  council  in 
the  day  time,  when  the  sun  shines.  We  want  no 
councils  in  the  dark.  When  we  signed  the  treaty,  the 
traders  threw  a  blanket  over  our  faces,  and  made  us 
sign  papers  we  did  not  understand.  I  want  a  new 
treaty,  and  I  want  the  Great  Father  at  Washington  to 
know  what  has  been  done." 

"  Your  Great  Father  has  sent  me  to  represent  him, 
and  what  I  say  is  what  he  says.  He  wants  you  to  pay 
your  old  debts, — leave  the  money  in  my  hands  to  pay 
your  debts.  If  you  refuse  to  do  that  I  will  take  the 
money  back  with  me." 

"  You  can  take  the  money  back,"  said  Red  Iron. 
"  We  sold  you  our  land  and  you  promised  so  pay  us  for 
it.  If  you  don't  give  us  the  money  I  will  be  glad 
and  all  my  people  will  be  glad,  for  we  will  have  our 
land  back  if  you  do  not  pay  us  for  it.  I  am  told  that 
that  paper  you  want  me  to  sign  gives  more  than  a 
hundred  thousand  dollars  of  our  money  to  the  trader. 
I  don't  think  we  owe  him  so  much.  If  the  Great 
Father  will  send  three  honest  men  here  to  examine  the 
trader's  accounts,  whatever  they  say  we  owe  the  trader" 
(an  offer  of  arbitration)  "I  will  sign  for.  All  our 
chiefs  and  all  our  people  will  agree  to  this." 

All  the  Indians  present  responded  "How !  How!" 

"  That  can't  be  done,"  said  Markara.  "You  owe 
morenow  than  your  money  would  pay,  but  I  am  willing 
to  pay  you  the  fifteen  thousand  dollars." 


325 

"  I  will  receive  the  fifteen  thousand  dollars,"  Red 
Iron  replied,  "  but  I  will  sign  no  papers.  We  have 
been  waiting  a  long  time  to  get  our  money.  We  are 
poor ;  you  have  plenty.  Your  fires  are  warm.  Your 
tepees  keep  out  the  cold.  We  have  nothing  to  eat. 
A  great  many  of  our  people  are  sick,  for  being  hungry. 
We  may  die  because  you  won't  pay  us.  We  have  sold 
our  hunting  grounds  and  the  graves  of  our  fathers. 
We  have  sold  our  own  graves,  and  you  will  not  pay  us 
the  money  for  our  lands." 

The  council  broke  up  and  Red  Iron  was  again  taken 
to  the  guard-house  and  loaded  with  chains.  Between 
thirty  and  forty  of  Red  Iron's  warriors  were  present  at 
the  council.  When  he  was  led  away,  they  departed 
in  sullen  silence,  headed  by  Lean  Bear,  his  Head  Sol 
dier,  to  a  hill-top  a  quarter  of  a  mile  distant,  where 
they  uttered  a  succession  of  yells — the  war-cry  of  the 
tribe.  Ere  the  echoes  had  died  away  hundreds  of  In 
dians  hurried  toward  them  prepared  for  battle ;  Lean 
Bear  was  a  resolute  man,  and  had  great  influence  in  the 
tribe.  He  recounted  the  brave  deeds  of  Red  Iron,  the 
long  list  of  wrongs  inflicted  on  them,  and  proposed 
that  they  should  make  a  general  attack  on  the  whites. 

It  took  all  the  weight  of  Jack's  influence  and  all 
the  power  of  his  eloquence  to  persuade  Lean  Bear  to 
give  up  his  project.  Late  at  night  the  Indians  dispersed 
and  went  to  their  lodges. 

Markam  did  not  attempt  anything  further  for  three 
or  four  days.  Then  one  night  he  got  Little  Wolf  and 
several  of  the  hangers-on  about  the  agency  together, 
the  four  scoundrels  who  drove  Mr.  Parkman  away  being 


326 

among  the  number,  and  held  a  formal  council,  the 
proceedings  being  taken  down  in  due  form,  and  certified 
to  by  the  agent,  clerk  and  interpreter.  The  first  thing 
they  did  was  to  depose  Red  Iron  and  install  Little  Wolf 
as  head  chief.  Being  duly  declared  head  chief  of  the 
tribe,  and  the  fact  recorded  in  the  minutes  of  the  council, 
he  then  signed  all  the  papers,  by  making  his  mark, 
which  Markam  presented.  The  next  day  the  fifteen 
thousand  dollars  was  paid  over  to  the  Indians,  and  the 
"  paying  agent"  left. 

I  never  knew  how  the  proceeds  of  this  transaction 
was  divided.  Hildreth  shortly  afterward  invested  about 
ten  thousand  dollars  in  a  herd  of  cattle.  But  the  papers 
were  signed,  the  accounts  were  balanced,  and  the  books 
of  the  Department  of  the  Interior  show,  "  officially ," 
that  the  transaction  was  honest  and  "  straight." 


CHAPTER  XLIII. 
MEIIA'S   FATE. 

FEW  days  after  Markam  left,  Major  Hod- 
son  was  ordered  back  to  the  fort  on  the 
Little  Blue.  Before  he  left,  Jack  had  two 
or  three  long  talks  with  him,  after  which 
he  fell  into  a  chronic  melancholy.  One  day  he  came 
to  Red  Iron  and  told  him  that  he  was  going  away  and 
would  be  gone  several  weeks,  and  that  before  he  came 


327 

back  lie  should  visit  Badger's  old  band  on  the  Arickoree. 
He  then  saddled  his  horse,  strapped  on  his  blankets  and 
started  for  the  fort  on  the  Little  Blue.  Arriving  there, 
his  first  inquiry  was  made  of  Captain  Belfor. 

"  Where  is  Lieutenant  Blake  ?" 

The  Captain  looked  into  Jack's  eyes,  and  said  : 

"  I  wish  you  had  come  two  weeks  sooner.  Then  I 
think  there  would  have  been  a  pretty  good  prospect 
for  him  to  have  got  his  just  deserts.  But  it's  too  late 
now.  Colonel -Coldcra ft  court-martialed  him,  and  he 
was  dishonorably  dismissed  from  the  service.  I  wish 
we  could  get  rid  of  a  few  more  just  like  him." 

"  Where  is  Meha  ?"  asked  Jack. 

"  She  is  staying  with  one  of  the  laundresses  who  has 
taken  her  since  she  was  abandoned.  You  will  find  her 
over  on  the  north  side,  in  the  rear  of  the  bake-house 
there." 

When  little  Meha  saw  Jack  she  was  delighted  be 
yond  measure.  It  was  so  good,  she  said,  to  talk  to  some 
one  iii  her  own  language.  It  was  two  days  before  Jack 
could  nerve  himself  to  tell  her  that  Lieutenant  Blake 
had  been  dismissed  from  the  army,  and  that  he  had 
abandoned  her  forever,  and  when  he  did  she  would  not 
believe  one  word  of  it.  She  said  that  he  had  gone 
away  on  some  expedition,  like  he  had  many  times 
before.  She  said  he  had  told  her  he  would  be  gone  a 
good  while  this  time,  but  he  was  coming  back  again. 

"  Don't  you  want  to  see  your  mother  and  your  little 
sister  ?"  asked  Jack. 

"  Oh !  very  much,"  she  said. 


328  JACK'S  OPINION  OF  INJUNS. 

"  Well,  a  train  is  going  to  start  for  the  Agency,  and 
I  am  going  there  too.  Will  you  go  with  us  2" 

"  I  want  to  sec  my  mother  and  dear  little  sister  very 
much,  but  Lieutenant  Blake  might  come  back  while  I 
was  gone,  and  I  don't  know  what  he  would  think." 

Jack  tried  every  way  he  could  think  of  to  persuade 
her  to  go,  but  she  would  not  consent.  She  had  perfect 
faith  that  Lieutenant  Blake  would  soon  come  back.  At 
last  he  brought  a  paper,  which  he  told  her  was  an 
order  from  the  Colonel,  for  her  to  join  her  tribe, 
and  to  remain  there  until  Lieutenant  Blake  came  back. 
If  he  ever  came  he  would  order  him  to  come  to  her  right 
away.  She  went  back  to  her  tribe,  and  years  after 
ward  I  saw  her.  She  was  still  patiently  waiting  him 
to  come,  who  had  long  before  forgotten  her.  She  had 
refused  offers  of  marriage  from  several  of  the  young 
chiefs,  and  was  still  true  to  him. 

"  The  Great  Father,"  she  said,  "  has  sent  him  far 
away,  perhaps  beyond  the  great  water,  but  some  day  he 
will  come  back  to  Meha." 


CHAPTER  XLIY. 
JACK'S  OPINION  OF  INJUNS. 

ACK  made  inquiries  of    some  Indians  who 
came  in  with  the  train  and  were  going  back 
with  it,   about  the   place   where   Badger's 
band  was  located.     Two  of  these  Indians 
had  their  wives  with  them.     He  told  them  of  his  in- 


JACK'S   OPINION  or  INJUNS.  329 

tended  visit,  but  that  lie  did  not  want  the  Agency  people 
to  know  he  was  there.  He  learned  that  old  Hairy 
Bear  had  been  made  chief  of  the  band  by  the  agent, 
after  Badger  had  been  hung  by  the  whites.  Hairy 
Bear  was  located  on  the  Beaver,  about  fifteen  miles  from 
the  Agency.  It  was  very  easy  for  Jack  to  find  the  place. 
He  rode  over  to  the  Republican,  crossed  it,  and  went 
up  the  south  side  until  he  came  to  the  Beaver,  and 
followed  that  until  he  came  to  Hairy  Bear's  camp. 

Things  had  been  managed  at  Perkins's  Agency  in  an 
entirely  different  way  from  the  plan  pursued  with  Red 
Iron's  tribe. 

Perkins  commenced  by  proclaiming  his  absolute 
honesty,  and  to  prove  it  he  asked  for  a  military  officer 
to  inspect  his  supplies  before  they  were  delivered  to  the 
Indians.  An  officer  was  accordingly  sent.  He  inspected 
ten  thousand  sacks  of  flour,  and  some  other  articles.  All 
of  them  were  found  to  be  fully  up  to  the  grade  speci 
fied  in  the  contracts.  A  few  weeks  afterward  he  asked 
for  an  officer  to  inspect  supplies  again.  This  time  the 
officer  found  nine  thousand  sacks  of  flour  of  exactly  the 
same  grade  as  that  of  the  previous  lot. 

The  inspection  of  flour  is  made  by  thrusting  an  in 
strument,  hollow  on  one  side,  into  the  sack,  and  when 
it  is  withdrawn  the  hollow  is  full  of  flour.  As  each 
sack  is  inspected,  a  brand  is  put  upon  it.  The  whole 
transaction  was  perfectly  "  straight,"  to  all  appearance, 
and  the  Indians  were  charged  with  nineteen  thousand 
sacks  of  flour.  The  empty  sacks,  nineteen  thousand  in 
number,  were  piled  up  in  the  warehouse,  each  one  hav 
ing  the  United  States  Army  Inspector's  brand  upon  it. 


330  JACK'S  OPINION  OF  INJUNS. 

"When  the  Indians  complained  that  they  had  only 
received  half  rations  of  flour,  Perkins  showed  the  sacks, 
to  prove  what  liars  they  were.  Notwithstanding  all 
this,  the  contractors  had  only  furnished,  and  the  Indians 
had  only  received,  ten  thousand  sacks  of  flour.  The 
flour  had  been,  what  is  called  in  the  Indian  Ring  par 
lance  "  double  sacked."  The  army  officer  had  inspected 
ten  thousand  sacks  and  branded  each  one.  "When  he 
went  away,  the  outside  sacks  had  been  pulled  off. 
When  he  came  back,  he  inspected  exactly  the  same 
lot  over  again,  save  the  thousand  sacks  which  had 
been  issued  in  his  absence.  A  plan  very  similar  to  this 
was  successfully  carried  out  in  regard  to  the  beef  cattle. 
The  contract  specified  that  the  cattle  should  average 
eight  hundred  and  fifty  pounds.  A  great  herd  of  fine 
cattle  were  driven  to  the  agency,  and  herded  on  a  range 
near  by.  During  the  course  of  two  or  three  months 
most  of  them  had  been  driven  away,  and  the  number 
supplied  with  thin  old  cows,  and  oxen  which  had  been 
broken  down  hauling  freight,  and  turned  out  to  die. 
The  flesh  of  such  cattle  is  black,  and  about  the  tough 
ness  of  good  sole  leather.  Notwithstanding  all  this, 
Perkins  was  a  good  agent,  for  he  only  stole  half,  while 
Parker  and  Hildreth  stole  about  nine-tenths,  and  it  was 
very  wicked  in  these  Indians  to  act  the  way  they  did. 
When  Jack  arrived,  he  found  that  there  was  trouble 
brewing.  Old  Hairy  Bear  and  his  medicine  man  were 
holding  orgies  every  two  or  three  nights,  in  which  the 
cruelties  practiced  upon  them  by  the  whites  was  told 
over  and  over.  It  was  with  difficulty  Jack  found  out 
what  was  going  on  among  the  other  bands  and  tribes 


JACK'S  OPINION  OF  INJUNS.  331 

belonging  to  this  agency,  for  some  of  them  spoke  a 
different  language.  He  &oon  learned,  however,  that 
they  were  plotting  an  extensive  outbreak,  as  scon  as 
they  could  conclude  treaties  with  some  tribes  to  the 
west,  into  whose  territory  they  would  have  to  go  in 
case  of  a  war.  These  negotiations  would  require  some 
time,  even  if  they  were  successful,  of  which  there 
seemed  to  be  some  doubt.  He  also  found  that  most  of 
them  had  arms  and  horses.  The  Indians  were  still 
more  enraged  just  when  Jack  arrived,  for  they  said  the 
beef  was  less  in  amount  and  blacker  and  tougher  than 
ever  before.  Jack  told  them  they  were  fools  to  talk 
about  going  to  war.  The  Great  Father  would  send  an 
army  of  soldiers  larger  than  the  biggest  herd  of  buffaloes 
they  ever  saw,  but  if  they  did  go  to  war,  the  first  man 
they  were  to  kill  was  Perkins.  If  they  didn't  kill  him, 
he  would  come  down  with  some  of  Red  Iron's  warriors 
and  scalp  every  one  of  them. 

Jack  was  accustomed  to  tough  fare,  but  this  beef 
was  a  little  tougher  than  anything  he  had  ever  found 
before.  He  got  a  piece  one  morning  and  put  it  on  the 
fire  to  boil.  After  he  had  kept  the  fire  blazing  hot  for 
about  six  hours,  he  took  it  out,  cut  off  a  mouthful  with 
his  hunting-knife  and  chewed  on  it  until  his  jaws  gave 
out.  The  mouthful  was  stili  intact  and  about  as  elastic 
as  a  piece  of  caoutchouc.  Then  he  put  the  beef  back 
and  boiled  it  until  sundown.  When  he  took  it  out  of 
the  camp-kettle,  it  was  blacker  and  tougher  than  ever. 
An  Indian  wman  who  was  watching  his  performance 
laughed  at  him,  and  said  he  ought  to  know  how  to 
cook  the  white  people's  beef,  as  he  was  a  white  man. 


332 

"I'll  take  pity  on  yon,"  she  said,  "  and  give  you 
something  to  eat." 

She  brought  him  some  thick,  black  soup. 

"What  is  this  made  of  ?"  said  Jack. 

"  That's  made  of  the  white  people's  beef  too,  but  I've 
learned  how  to  do  it." 

"  How  do  you  fix  it  ?" 

"I  cut  the  beef  into  thin  slices,  and  roast  it  on  the 
coals  until  it  is  cooked  clear  through.  When  it  is 
dried,  it  is  brittle.  Then  I  pound  it  fine  between  two 
stones  and  make  soup  of  it.  That's  all  the  way  we  can 
eat  this  black  beef." 

The  next  day  the  Indians  went  in  to  the  Agency  and 
drew  a  week's  rations.  When  they  <?ame  back  to  camp 
there  was  a  general  uproar.  Threats  were  made  by 
some  of  the  young  men,  and  they  were  not  rebuked  by 
the  elder  ones,  of  going  to  the  Agency  and  killing  every 
body  there.  The  cause  of  the  trouble  was,  that  in 
addition  to  black  beef,  they  had  received  black  flour. 
The  ration  thus  made  up  was  not  fit  for  any  human 
being  to  eat.  Jack  was  fearful  that  they  would  break 
out  into  open  war  immediately,  but  after  a  day  or  two 
the  excitement  somewhat  subsided,  and  as  the  next 
issue  was  a  little  better,  they  settled  into  their  old  way. 
The  only  action  taken  was  to  send  another  delegation 
to  the  tribes  west  of  them,  to  hurry  up  the  negotiations. 

One  day  Jack  concluded  he  would  go  into  the  Agency 
and  see  what  Perkins  would  do  about  his  presence  on 
the  reserve.  He  was  well  armed,  and  rather  wanted 
Perkins  to  try  to  arrest  him.  He  rode  up  to  the  trader's 
store,  hitched  his  horse  and  walked  in.  Perkins  was 


JACK'S   OPINION   OF  INJUNS.  333 

there,  but  he  did  not  seem  to  recognize  him.  As  Jack 
came  out  he  met  Jennie  Walker  face  to  face. 

u  Oli,  Jack !"  she  said,  and  then,  looking  around,  she 
spoke  in  a  lower  tone,  "  I  want  to  talk  to  you  so  bad. 
How  can  I  see  you  alone  ?" 

"  If  you  will  walk  down  to  that  grove,  yonder  by 
the  river,"  said  Jack,  "  I  will  be  there  in  about  an 
hour."  Then  he  turned  and  sauntered  off  in  a  different 
direction. 

At  the  appointed  time  he  met  her  there. 

"  How  in  the  world  did  you  ever  get  here  ?"  said 
Jack. 

"  My  father  brought  me." 

"  What  does  your  father  do  here  ?" 

"  He  helps  the  trader  in  his  store." 

u  What  made  him  come  here  ?" 

"  Mr.  Perkins  owes  him  ever  so  much  money,  and  he 
said  if  he  would  come  out  here  he  would  soon  pay  him, 
but  I  don't  believe  he  ever  will." 

"  What  do  you  do  here  ?" 

"  I  don't  do  anything.  I  wanted  to  teach  school, 
but  they  wouldn't  let  me." 

"  How  long  is  your  father  going  to  stay  here  P 

"  I  don't  know." 

"  Would  you  like  to  get  away  from  here  ?" 

"I  have  no  place  to  go  to.  If  Mr.  Perkins  would 
pay  father  the  money  he  owes  him,  I  think  he  would  go 
right  away." 

For  a  few  moments  there  was  silence.  Then  Jennie 
said. 

"  Jack,  would  you  do  one  little  thing  for  me  ?" 


334 

"  Sartinlj  I  would.  Jest  tell  me  what  it  is  and  it 
shall  be  done." 

Jennie  took  a  tiny  little  letter  out  of  her  pocket,  and 
said : 

"  You  won't  tell  any  body,  will  you,  Jack  ?  I  wrote 
a  letter  to  Mr.  Wilmot  when  I  first  came  here,  but  I 
don't  think  Mr.  Perkins  let  it  go.  I  want  you  to  take 
this  letter  and  send  it  to  him." 

Jack  took  the  letter  and  then  looked  at  the  fair- 
haired  girl,  as  she  etood  there  under  the  trees.  She 
had  taken  off  her  hat.  Little  rays  of  sunlight  played 
through  her  golden  hair,  as  they  found  their  way  through 
leaves,  stirred  by  the  wind. 

"  Can  you  ride  pretty  well  on  a  horse  ?"  asked  Jack. 

"  Yes,"  she  replied.  "  I  have  ridden  a  good  deal 
since  I  came  out  here.  But  why  do  you  ask  ?" 

"  'Cause  I  thought  that  the  best  thing  I  could 
do  was  to  take  the  letter  and  you  both  to  Mr.  Wilmot." 

"  Oh,  Jack,  I  could  not  do  that." 

"  Well,  I  didn't  mean  that.  I  meant  I'd  take  the 
letter  to  Mr.  Wilmot  and  you  to  Mr.  Parkman's." 

"Jack,  you  ought  not  to  talk  that  way  to  me." 

"  I  don't  like  to  leave  you  here.  There's  no  danger 
at  present,  and  won't  be  for  some  time,  but  I'd  feel  a 
good  deal  better  if  you  were  at  Council  Bluffs." 

"Oh,  the  Indians  wouldn't  hurt  me.  I  know  a 
good  many  of  them." 

"  Injuns  is  Injuns,"  said  Jack,  dropping  uncon 
sciously  into  the  frontier  dialect ;  "  and  they  has  their 
ways.  Some  of  'em  is  mighty  good  ways,  and  some  of 
'em  mighty  bad.  Now,  thar's  their  religion.  Part  of 


OF     INJUNS.  835 

it's  jest  like  old  Father  Abraham's,  and  part  of  it  is  a 
sort  of  an  improvement  on  it  m  the  wrong  direction. 
You  see,  when  an  Injun  gits  a  religious  fit  on  him  he 
don't  know  what  he's  doing.  "When  they  git  a  notion 
the  Great  Spirit  is  calling  on  'em  to  avenge  their 
wrongs,  they  Idll  anything.  Little  babies,  women  and 
children  is  all  the  same  to  'em  then.  It's  mighty  bad, 
but  I've  knowed  'em  to  do  it.  White  people  have  done 
worse  things,  and  thought  they  was  serving  God.  I 
read  when  I  was  a  boy  about  their  breaking  every 
bone  in  a  woman's  body,  one  at  a  time,  one  of  their 
own  race,  too.  I've  knowed  Injuns  to  do  some  mighty 
mean  things,  but  nothing  as  bad  as  that.  Now  them 
Injuns  is  gitting  up  what  you  might  call  a  revival. 
'Tain't  like  one  of  Mr.  Parkinan's  revivals.  Them  kind 
makes  men  better — this  kind  makes  'em  worse.  The 
fact  is,  these  Injuns  need  some  kind  of  improvement  in 
their  religion.  I've  been  thinking  of  it  considerable. 
If  they'd  quit  holdin'  these  pow-wows,  believing  in 
them  old  medicine  sticks,  and  the  prophesyin's  of  them 
old  frauds  of  medicine  men,  I  think  their  religion  'ud 
be  about  right.  If  they  didn't  have  faith  in  the  old 
medicine  man's  charms  against  their  enemies,  they'd 
never  go  to  war.  There's  lots  of  'em  that  don't  believe 
in  'em,  but  they  pretend  to,  to  control  the  others ;  'cause 
you  see  they  can  hire  the  old  medicine  man  to  proph 
esy  anything,  or  make  a  big  medicine  for  them,  for  a 
blanket  any  time.  Now,  as  I  said,  them  Injuns  is  git- 
ting  up  a  revival.  Among  Injuno  that  means  war ; 
among  white  men  it  means  peace.  They  are  pow-wow- 
ing  around  in  the  tents  every  night,  workin'  themselves 


336 

into  a  frenzy,  tellin'  over  the  crimes  committed  against 
'em  by  the  whites  (and  the  Lord  knows  there's  enough 
of  'em  to  keep  'em  talking  a  year),  prayin'  to  the  Great 
Spirit,  twistin'  themselves  into  a  thousand  shapes,  an' 
carryin'  on  worse  than  a  nigger  at  a  camp  meetin',  and 
some  of  these  days,  when  they  don't  issue  them  any 
rations,  they'll  all  git  crazy  mad  at  once,  and  cut  up 
jack  generally  around  here.  Of  course,  if  they  issue 
them  decent  rations  it'll  spile  the  revival.  These  old 
Injun  preachers  allers  have  to  have  some  present  griev 
ance  to  work  on.  Now,  I've  told  you  the  whole  thing, 
and  why  I  thought  you'd  better  go  to  Council  Bluffs." 

"  Suppose  you  see  father  and  tell  him." 

"  I  couldn't  exactly  do  that.  I'd  be  accused  right 
away  of  workin'  up  a  war,  or  something  else.  Every 
thing  is  all  safe  for  a  month  or  two.  Medicine  sticks 
are  mighty  powerful  things  among  Injuns,  but  they 
haven't  quite  faith  enough  in  'em  to  go  to  war,  with  the 
soldiers  on  one  side  and  hostile  tribes  on  the  other." 

"  Suppose  you  tell  Mr.  Wilmot  all  about  it,"  said 
Jennie." 

"  Of  course  I  will ;  but  he  can't  do  anything." 

Jennie  had  perfect  faith  in  Mr.  Wilmot's  ability  to 
do  almost  anything,  and  told  Jack  if  he  would  only 
give  him  that  letter,  he  would  take  such  measures  as 
would  be  best  for  them  all. 

"  Let  me  see,"  said  Jack.  "  It 's  three  hundred 
miles  from  here  to  Council  Bluffs.  I  can  make  it  in 
six  days.  "Wilmot  shall  have  your  letter  in  six  days 
from  to-morrow." 

Jennie  extended  her  hand  and  said  "  Good-bye." 


MES.     PAKKMAN    TRANSLATES    A     CirHER   LETTER.    337 

Jack  went  back  to  Hairy  Bear's  camp  and  told  them 
lie  must  now  go  back  to  Ins  tribe. 

They  made  him  a  great  many  presents,  and  among 
other  things  two  horses,  and  the  next  morning  he  de 
parted. 


CHAPTER  XLY. 

MKS.    PARKMAN    TRANSLATES    A    CIPHER    LETTER. 


ACK  stopped  at  the  fort  on  the  Little  Blue, 
on  his  way  to  Council  Bluffs,  and  had  an 
interview  with  Colonel  Coldcraft,  being  in 
troduced  by  Major  Hodson.  He  told  him 
the  conditions  of  affairs  at  the  Agency,  the  quality  of 
the  rations  and  the  probability  of  an  outbreak.  The 
Colonel  thanked  him  for  the  information,  asked  him 
where  he  could  likely  be  found  in  the  event  of  war,  but 
made  no  other  remark. 

Corning  away,  Jack  said  to  Major  Hodson : 
"  This  Colonel  seems  to  be  a  mighty  crusty  sort  of 
a  fellow." 

"  Yes,  he  is  a  different  man  from  Colonel  Greene, 
but  he  is  an  excellent  officer.     Colonel  Coldcraft  never 
has  any  opinions  to  express  to  anybody." 
"  What  do  you  suppose  he  will  do  ?" 
"  He'll  forward  the  information  you   gave  him  to 
the  department  commander,  and  await  orders." 
"  What  do  you  think  of  it  f 
15 


338     MRS.  PARKMAN  TRANSLATES    A    CIPHER    LETTER/ 

"  The  army  can't  interfere  unless  requested  to  do  so 
by  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior.  He  has  absolute  control 
of  the  Indians.  His  men  out  there  are  concocting  a 
war.  They  don't  care  how  many  wars  they  get  up. 
The  more  the  better,  as  far  as  they  are  concerned. 
They  know  very  well  they  don't  have  to  fight  them 
out.  Now,  if  the  Colonel  had  authority,  he  could 
send  a  battalion  of  cavalry  out  there,  get  after 
those  contractors,  make  them  furnish  supplies  as  they 
have  agreed  and  been  paid  for  doing,  and  there  would 
be  no  war.  As  it  is,  the  Indians  will  first  be  half- 
starved  and  then  we  will  be  sent  to  kill  them,  because 
they  are  so  impudent  and  rebellious  that  they  won't 
stay  there  and  die  peaceably  and  without  grumbling." 

Jack  did  not  delay  longer  than  was  necessary  at  the 
fort,  but  pressed  on  to  Council  Bluffs  and  delivered  the 
tiny  little  letter.  Mr.  Wilmot  opened  it  and  read  : 

"  DEAR  MR.  WILMOT, — 

"  I  was  so  sorry  I  had  to  leave  without  seeing  you. 
I  did  not  know  I  had  to  go  until  nine  o'clock  the  night 
before  we  started,  and  we  left  before  six  o'clock  in  the 
morning.  When  I  arrived  here  I  wrote  you  a  letter, 
but  I  remembered  that  the  other  letter  I  wrote  to  you 
never  reached  you,  and  I  thought  you  had  never  re 
ceived  it,  so  I  write  again.  Plow  is  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Parkman  ?  I  am  very  lonely  here,  but  I  hope  Mr. 
Perkins  will  soon  pay  father  and  then  we  can  come 
away.  I  don't  like  Mr.  Perkins  a  bit.  I  wanted  to 
teach  sclxool  here  and  he  would  not  let  me. 
"  Very  truly, 

"JENNIE  WALKER." 


MES.     PAEKMAN    TRANSLATES    A    CIPHER    LETTEE.    339 

"  Anything  important  ?"  said  Jack. 

"  Yes,"  Wilmot  replied,  as  lie  folded  up  the  letter 
and  put  it  in  his  pocket.  "  She  says  she  wants  me  to 
come  out  there  and  marry  her  forthwith." 

"I  don't  believe  it,"  said  Jack.  "That  'ere  girl 
would  never  write  that  way." 

"  Well,  then,  look  at  it  and  see,"  said  Wilmot, 
handing  him  the  letter. 

"  I  knowed  she  never  said  any  such  thing,"  said 
Jack,  after  reading  the  letter. 

"  You  can't  read  it,  because  it's  written  in  cipher, 
and  a  cipher  to  which  no  Washington  detective  would 
ever  find  the  key." 

"  I  don't  believe  that  thar's  any  cipher  about  it."     . 

<4  You  take  it  over  to  Mrs.  Parkman  and  ask  her  if 
that  is  not  what  it  means.  She  understands  that  kind 
of  a  cipher." 

Wilmot  had  no  idea  of  sending  the  letter  to  Mrs. 
Parkman,  but  Jack  rose  up  and  strode  out  of  the  office 
saying,  "  I'll  do  it.  Hang  me  if  I  don't." 

After  giving  Mrs.  Parkman  all  the  news,  Jack  took 
the  letter  out  of  his  pocket  and  handed  it  to  her,  saying : 

"  Now,  I  want  you  to  tell  me  honestly  what  that 
letter  means.  Wilmot  says  it  means  one  thing.  I  say 
it  don't." 

Mrs.  Parkman  read  the  letter,  and  then  said,  in  a 
somewhat  excited  manner : 

"  Mr.  Wilmot  ought  to  go  right  out  there  and  see 
Jennie.  I'll  think  he's  real  mean  if  he  don't." 

Jack  took  the  letter  and  went  back  to  Wilmot's 
office,  saying  to  himself : 


340  BEYOND    CONTROL.  ' 

"  Well,  if  that  don't  beat  all  creation.  I  didn't  be 
lieve  that  was  a  cipher  letter  at  all." 

"  What  did  she  say  ?"  asked  Wilmot,  as  Jack  came 
in. 

"  I  give  it  up,"  said  Jack.  "  I  guess  it  is  a  cipher, 
but  I  wouldn't  have  believed  it  if  it  hadn't  been  for 
Mrs.  Parkman.  She  says  you  ought  to  go  right  straight 
out  there." 

"  That's  a  poser,"  he  said,  unfolding  the  letter  and 
looking  at  it  again.  "  Who'd  ever  thought  of  that  in 
nocent-looking  letter  meaning  something  else  entirely 
from  what  it  says.  All  the  ciphers  I  ever  saw  didn't 
mean  anything  when  you  read  them  straight  along. 
How  did  Mrs.  Parkman  learn  to  read  it  ?" 

"  Oh !  she  learned  that  a  long  time  ago ;  before  she 
was  married." 


CHAPTER   XLYI. 

BEYOND   CONTROL. 

EVERAL  long  conversations  between  Wilmot 
and  Jack  resulted  in  an  agreement  that 
they  would  both  go  out  to  the  reservation 
on  the  Arickoree.  Jack  was  to  return  to 
Red  Iron's  camp,  Wilmot  to  go  via  the  fort  on  the 
Little  Blue,  and  the  two  to  meet  on  a  day  specified  at 
the  forks  of  Turkey  Creek. 

Jack  did  not  tell  Wilmot  why  he  desired  to  go  first 

to  Red  Iron's  camp,  but  simply  said  he  must  go  there. 

•  At  the  appointed  time  Wilmot  rode  up  on  a  hill- 


BEYOND    CONTROL.  341 

top,  overlooking  the  place  of  rendezvous,  and  was 
astonished  to  see  a  camp  of  about  fifty  Indians.  He  sat 
in  his  saddle  hesitating  about  what  he  had  better  do, 
when  some  one  in  the  camp  mounted  a  horse  and  came 
galloping  toward  him.  As  he  came  near,  Wilmot  saw 
that  it  was  Jack. 

"What  does  this  mean?"  said  Wilmot.  "What 
are  all  those  Indians  doing  here  ?" 

"  I  kalkerlated  there  might  be  trouble  over  here, 
and  in  case  there  was,  I  wanted  a  few  fellers  along  with 
me  I  could  rely  on.  And  then,  if  Jennie  wanted  to 
come  back  with  us,  it  would  be  well  to  have  some 
women  along.  As  I  couldn't  git  any  white  ones,  I've 
got  four  or  five  Indian  women.  Two  of  'em  knew 
Jennie  when  she  was  in  Red  Iron's  camp  before  the 
war,  so  I  let  'em  come  with  their  husbands." 

"  I  haven't  any  idea  that  Jennie  will  come  back  with 
us.  I  am  going  out  there  to  see  her,  and  .have  a  talk 
with  her  father.  I  think  he  would  come  down  as  far 
as  the  fort  on  the  Little  Blue." 

"  Suppose  Perkins  tries  to  arrest  you  ?" 

"I  don't  think  he'll  do  that.  I'm  out  of  the  fight 
now." 

"  Well,  I  think  if  he  does  he'll  have  a  warm  time  of 
it  afore  he  gits  through.  I'm  going  to  camp  these 
Injuns  right  by  the  side  of  his  house.  These  agents 
have  a  respect  for  a  shooting-iron." 

"I  don't  know  but  it  is  a  pretty  good  plan,"  said 
Wilmot. 

The  next  morning  the  party  was  on  the  move.  It 
was  understood  where  the  camp  was  to  be  made  that 


342  BEYOND    CONTROL. 

night,  and  the  Indians  scattered  off  each  one  to  his  own 
fancy.  Some  of  them  reached  the  camping-place  by 
three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  and  some  did  not  get  in 
until  after  dark.  They  had  killed,  during  the  day, 
three  antelopes  and  several  jack  rabbits.  There  was 
great  good  humor  in  the  camp  that  night.  They  felt 
like  they  were  free  men  once  more,  and  they  had  plenty 
to  eat. 

About  nine  o'clock  three  of  the  young  men  came 
riding  in.  They  were  the  last  of  the  party  to  arrive. 
One  of  them  came  directly  to  Jack  and  handed  him  a 
piece  of  paper.  He  said,  about  ten  miles  above  where 
they  were  camped,  on  the  same  stream,  they  had  come 
upon  the  trail  of  two  white  men.  They  had  stopped 
at  the  crossing  but  had  made  no  fire.  Their  horses  had 
been  ridden  very  hard,  and  were  very  hungry.  Their 
trail  led  over  toward  the  Platte. 

(I  suppose  that  some  persons  will  think  it  very 
strange  that  Indian  could  know  that  those  horses  had 
been  ridden  very  hard  and  were  hungry,  but  it  was  a 
very  easy  thing  for  him  to  tell  that.  The  horses  were 
lariated  out,  had  laid  down  on  the  grass  and  rolled,  and 
being  covered  with  sweat  had  rubbed  it  off.  The  tracks 
showed  how  long  they  had  been  allowed  to  feed,  and 
the  grass  that  they  had  not  wasted  any  time  standing 
still.) 

But  the  scrap  of  paper,  that  was  the  greatest  mystery, 
and  entirely  beyond  the  reach  of  Indian  lore.  It  was 
part  of  an  envelope,  and  on  it  was  written :  "  II.  L. 
Perkins,  Arickoree  Agency."  "Was  this  Perkins  and 
some  one  else  ?  If  not,  who  could  it  be  \  It  made 


BEYOND    CONTEOL.  343 

Jack  feel  extremely  uneasy.  He  broke  camp  early  in 
the  morning  and  gave  orders  to  halt  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Red  Willow,  a  very  hard  day's  march. 

To  understand  what  follows,  it  will  be  necessary  to 
relate  what  had  happened  at  Perkins's  Agency  since  Jack 
was  there.  The  delegations  to  the  tribes  to  the  west 
had  returned  with  a  favorable  report.  A  treaty  of 
friendship  had  been  made,  and  a  league  formed  to  re 
sist  the  encroachments  of  the  whites.  The  principal 
chief  at  Perkins's  Agency  was  a  man  named  Little 
Warrior.  He  was  a  hereditary  chief,  and  what  is  rather 
rare  among  that  class,  a  man  of  great  natural  ability. 
He  did  not  desire  to  go  to  war,  if  war  could  be  avoided. 
Between  starvation  and  fighting  he  would  fight  without 
any  hesitation.  He  made  this  league  so  that  in  case  of 
war  he  would  not  be  perfectly  helpless,  with  an  army 
on  one  side  and  a  hostile  tribe  on  the  other.  When 
the  result  of  the  negotiations  became  known,  there  was 
great  excitement  among  all  the  bands  belonging  to  the 
agency,  and  old  Hairy  Bear  was  for 'war  immediately. 
His  medicine  man  prophesied  all  kinds  of  evil  if  they 
did  not  go  to  war,  and  great  victories  if  they  did.  Just 
at  this  time  the  rations  were  worse  than  ever,  and 
before  Little  Warrior  was  aware  of  the  fact,  his  people 
were  beyond  his  control. 

The  Indians  around  the  agency,  the  hangers-on,  the 
sycophants,  became  first  sullen,  and  then  insolent.  The 
agent's  power  was  broken,  and  they,  as  all  such  men  of 
every  race,  forsook  him  for  the  favor  of  those  who  were 
to  soon  take  control  of  things. 

Perkins  saw  that  there  was  trouble  near  at  hand, 


344  BEYOND     CONTROL. 

and  held  a  consultation  with  Cox,  his  trader.  That 
night,  about  midnight,  without  giving  the  least  warning 
to  any  of  the  employees,  they  mounted  two  of  the  best 
horses  and  fled.  In  the  morning,  when  the  Indians 
found  they  were  gone,  they  sacked  the  trader's  store, 
broke  open  the  warehouse,  raided  the  employees'  dwell 
ings  and  took  everything  they  could  lay  hands  on. 

The  next  day  old  Hairy  Bear  came  dashing  up  to 
the  Agency  at  the  head  of  his  warriors,  all  in  their  war 
paint.  The  employees  had  all  gone  into  the  guard-house 
and  prepared  to  defend  themselves  as  best  they  could. 
The  Indians,  from  an  eminence  near  by,  shot  burn 
ing  arrows  into  it  and  set  it  on  fire.  As  the  defenseless 
people  were  flying  from  it,  they  rode  down  on  to  them 
with  their  tomahawks  to  brain  them  as  they  ran. 

At  this  juncture  Jack  and  Wilrnot,  at  the  head  of 
their  band  of  Indians,  dashed  down  on  the  Agency.  As 
they  came  over  the  hill  they  began  to  shout  their  war- 
cry,  and  Hairy  Bear  and  his  band  of  warriors  fled,  car 
rying  with  them  Jennie's  father,  Jennie,  and  two  other 
women  as  prisoners.  They  fled  down  the  bank  of  the 
river,  with  Jack,  "Wilmot  and  young  Gray  Cloud 
in  hot  pursuit.  Hairy  Bear,  seeing  they  were  hotly 
pursued,  tomahawked  Jennie's  father  as  he  rode  by 
his  side.  As  he  fell  from  his  horse,  an  Indian  tried  to 
scalp  him,  but  he  fell  dead  from  a  bullet  from  Jack's 
unerring  rifle.  They  were  so  hotly  pursued  that,  in 
dashing  by  the  mouth  of  a  ravine,  Jennie  was  able  to 
turn  her  horse  behind  the  bank  and  up  the  ravine. 
One  of  the  Indians  who  was  riding  beside  her  fired 
twice  at  her,  but  dared  not  stop  his  own  horse  for  a 


BEYOND    CONTEOL.  345 

second.  Neither  Jack  nor  Wilmot  saw  this,  some 
bushes  intervening  just  at  that  moment,  which  hid  the 
Indians  from  their  view.  Gray  Cloud,  who  was  a  little 
to  one  side,  saw  it,  and  when  he  came  to  the  mouth  of 
the  ravine  he  turned  up  it  and  went  after  Jennie.  The 
whole  band  of  Jack's  Indians  soon  swept  by  in  hot 
pursuit. 

Jack  had  gone  up  this  stream  when  he  went  to  the 
Agency,  and  he  knew  every  turn  in  it.  The  Indians 
kept  along  the  bank,  and,  there  being  a  place  where  it 
made  a  sharp  turn,  Jack  took  fifteen  or  twenty  men 
who  were  nearest,  dashed  across  the  point  and  came,  out 
ahead  of  Hairy  Bear's  band.  Instead  of  capturing  them 
between  the  two  forces,  as  he  expected,  Hairy  Bear 
forded  the  river,  and  he  only  captured  the  hindmost 
ones ;  but  among  them  were  the  two  wThite  women. 
But  Jennie !  Where  was  she  ?  Wilmot  was  nearly 
crazy,  and  wanted  to  press  on.  But  Jack  said : 

"  That's  no  sort  of  use.  Their  horses  are  fresh  and 
ours  worn  out  with  two  days  of  hard  marching.  We'll 
have  to  circumvent  'em  some  other  way." 

"  They'll  murder  her  or  do  worse.  I  am  going  on. 
How  many  men  here  will  follow  me  ?"  cried  Wilmot  to 
the  Indians,  forgetting  in  his  excitement  that  they  could 
not  understand  one  word  that  he  said. 

"  Keep  cool,"  said  Jack.  "  It  don't  do  no  good  to 
git  excited.  I'll " 

Just  then  they  saw,  coming  down  over  the  top  of 
the  hill,  Gray  Cloud  and  Jennie. 

"Wilmot  leaped  from  his  horse,  ran  to  her  and  clasped 
her  in  his  arms. 
15* 


34:6  OH!    FOR    THE    MILITARY. 

.  Jack  looked  on  for  a  moment  and  then  said  : 
"  There ;  I've  got  you  together  agin.    JSTow  stick." 


CHAPTEE  XLYII. 

OH  !  FOE  THE  MILITARY. 


|  HE  first  thing  Jack  did,  was  to  get  away  from 
there  as  soon  as  possible,  taking  with  him 
the  five  Indians  he  had  captured.  Gray 
Cloud  and  two  or  three  others  soon  had 
them  mounted,  with  their  feet  tied  together  under  the 
ponies,  and  in  that  manner  dashed  away  to  the  north 
east.  They  traveled  as  fast  as  they  could,  until  about 
sundown,  when  they  halted  on  a  little  stream. 

Jack  tied  the  five  prisoners  to  trees,  and  let  them 
remain  there  until  morning.  Then  he  told  them  he  was 
going  to  have  a  big  scalp  dance,  and  roast  them  all  alive. 
He  said : 

"  I'd  adopt  you  into  the  tribe,  but  you  are  no  war 
riors  at  all.  You  are  cowards.  I  told  you,  when  I  was 
here,  to  kill  the  agent  when  you  went  to  war.  He  is 
the  man  who  has  been  stealing  everything  you  have, 
but  you  were  too  big  cowards  to  do  anything  until  the 
agent  was  gone.  "When  there  was  nobody  left  to  fight, 
you  got  very  brave.  You  are  a  set  of  cowards." 

Not  a  muscle  moved  on  one  of  their  faces.  They 
looked  as  imperturbable  as  if  they  had  no  concern  about 


OH!    FOK    THE    MILITARY.  347 

the  matter  at  all.  After  a  few  minutes  Jack  came  back 
again  and  said  that  they  did  not  amount  to  enough  to 
go  to  the  trouble  of  scalping  them.  He  could  whip  a 
thousand  such  warriors  as  they  were,  with  the  braves  he 
had  with  him ;  and  then  he  told  one  of  the  Indian 
women  to  give  them  something  to  eat,  which  was  a 
sign  that  they  were  to  be  set  at  liberty ;  and,  being  set 
at  liberty,  the  Indians  of  Jack's  band  were  bound  by 
their  custom  to  make  them  presents,  which  they  did. 
When  they  departed,  Jack  sent  a  message  to  Hairy 
Bear,  that  he  intended  to  come  down  some  day  and  scalp 
the  whole  band,  because  they  had  not  killed  Perkins. 
He  took  all  their  arms  from  them,  for  he  did  not  want 
to  run  the  risk  of  their  following  after  him  to  revenge 
themselves,  and  recover  their  lost  standing  in  their 
tribe,  for  being  captured  alive. 

Jack  resumed  his  march.  Just  before  night,  one  of 
the  Indians  in  advance  returned  and  reported  that  a 
large  body  of  troops  was  in  their  front.  Upon  the 
receipt  of  this  news,  Jack  halted  his  band  and  camped. 
He  then  rode  forward.  When  he  came  upon  the  sol 
diers  he  found  that  it  was  a  force  under  the  command 
of  Colonel  Greene,  going  to  the  Agency,  to  restore 
order. 

Perkins  had  done  as  all  his  predecessors  and  all  his 
successors  have  done,  starved  his  Indians  into  rebellion, 
and  then  rushed  to  the  military  for  a  force  to  whip 
them  into  subjection.  Colonel  Greene  went  on  to  the 
Agency.  There  was  not  an  Indian  to  be  found  on  the 
whole  "reserve.  As  his  orders  left  the  settling  of  this 
matter  largely  to  his  discretion,  he  sent  a  messenger 


34:8  OH  !    FOE    THE    MILITARY. 

after  Little  Warrior,  asking  him  to  come  in  and  hold  a 
consultation,  assuring  him  of  a  safe  conduct  back  to  his 
people.  Little  Warrior  came.  When  the  two  men 
stood  face  to  face,  Colonel  Greene  said  : 

"  Do  you  want  to  go  to  war,  or  do  you  want  to  have 
peace  ?" 

"  I  want  peace,"  said  Little  Warrior,  "  but  I  can't 
stay  here  on  this  reservation.  JVIy  people  are  all 
starving.  What  the  agent  gave  us  was  not  fit  to  eat. 
I  have  brought  some  of  it  to  show  you." 

Here  the  chief  took  from  a  pack  a  sample  of  the 
beef  and  the  flour  which  Perkins  had  issued.  The 
flour  was  what  is  known  in  the  West  as  "  shorts "  or 
"  middlings,"  such  as  is  fed  to  horses  and  COWTS.  The 
beef  was  black,  and  as  tough  as  sole  leather. 

"  The  Great  Father,"  said  Little  Warrior,  "wants 
ine  to  live  here.  I  think  it  would  be  better  for  me  to 
stay  where  I  am.  There  I  can  make  my  own  living. 
Why  am  I  forced  to  live  on  the  Government  ?  If  the 
Great  Father  intends  always  to  feed  all  the  Indians, 
I  should  think  it  would  take  all  the  money  he  has.  I 
seem  to  be  blind,  I  cannot  understand  these  things.  If 
the  Great  Father  wants  me  to  come  back  here,  arid 
will  give  us  enough  to  eat,  so  we  will  not  be  hungry  all 
the  time,  I  will  come." 

Colonel  Greene  told  him  to  come  and  he  would 
issue  rations  to  them  for  a  while,  anyhow.  In  a  few 
days  they  were  all  back  again.  The  Colonel  summoned 
the  contractors  before  him  and  forced  them  to  deliver 
the  supplies  according  to  contract. 

One  day,  Little  Warrior  appeared  at  his  head-quarters 


THREE    MILLION    DOLLARS.  349 

with  old  Hairy  Bear  as  his  prisoner.   He  said  to  Colonel 
Greene : 

"  This  is  the  man  who  killed  the  white  man  at  the 
Agency.  I  have  brought  him  to  you,  to  turn  him  over 
to  the  whites  for  punishment.  I  promised,  in  the  treaty 
which  I  made  with  the  Great  Father,  that  if  any  of 
my  people  killed  a  white  man,  I  would  give  up  those 
who  did  it." 


CHAPTEE  XLVIII. 

THEEE   MILLION  DOLLAES. 

BANCROFT 

HE  little  party  which  we  left  on  the  open 
prairie  returned,  the  Indians  to  their  reserva 
tion,  Captain  Jack,  Wilmot  and  Jennie  to 
Council  Bluffs.  Mr.  Borden  had  been  wait 


ing  some  days  for  Wilmot.  The  regular  term  of  court 
was  soon  to  convene,  and  the  case  which  he  had  put 
in  Wilmot's  hands  would  come  up  for  trial.  He  had 
also  engaged  Dawson.  One  afternoon  the  two  lawyers 
explained  to  Mr.  Borden  the  whole  inside  history  of  the 
transactions  which  resulted  from  the  treaty  that  he  arid 
the  other  commissioners  had  made  with  Indians.  Mr. 
Borden  was  stunned  at  the  revelations  they  made,  and 
the  condition  of  the  two  Agencies  at  that  time. 

"  Why,"  said  Mr.  Borden,  "  I  saw  the  Annual  Ee- 
ports  of  Perkins  and  Hildreth,  just  before  I  started 
West,  in  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior 


350  THKEE    MILLION    DOLLAES. 

They  represent  the  Indians  to  be  well  contented  and 
making  great  advancement  toward  civilization." 

"  I  have  in  my  office,"  said  Dawson,  "  the  reports  of 
the  Commissioners  on  Indian  Affairs  ever  since  they 
were  published.  I  took  the  trouble  to  look  up  the 
representations  of  their  agents,  and  according  to  their 
official  reports,  one  tribe,  whose  present  condition  I 
happen  to  be  acquainted  with,  has  been  making  wonder 
ful  progress  toward  civilization  every  year  for  about  a 
hundred  years.  General  Wayno  wrote  a  letter  to  the 
Secretary  of  War,  describing  the  condition  of  these 
Indians  nearly  a  hundred  years  ago  (it  was  in  August, 
1794),  in  which  he  said  they  had  i  highly  cultivated 
fields  and  gardens'  and  'I  never  have  beheld  such 
immense  fields  of  corn  in  any  part  of  America,  from 
Canada  to  Florida.'  Now,  after  nearly  a  century  of 
Government  civilizing  and  advancing,  I  know  that 
these  Indians  are  ten  times  worse  off  than  they  were 
when  General  Wayne  described  their  condition.  Indian 
agents  have  been  advancing  them,  according  to  their 
official  reports,  toward  self-support,  ever  since,  and  now 
I  find  them  in  utter  poverty  and  destitution." 

"What -is  to  be  done?"  asked  Mr.  Borden. 

"  Give  them  civil  rights.  Extend  over  them  the 
jurisdiction  of  our  courts,"  said  Wilmot. 

"  You  would  not  extend  over  them  our  laws  without 
their  consent,  would  you  ?"  asked  Mr.  Borden. 

This  question  provoked  Wilmot  so  much  he  lost  his 
temper,  and  lie  arose  hastily  and  walked  out  of  the 
room,  muttering  to  himself :  "  You're  an  old  blockhead. 
I  don't  see  how  you  can  take  care  of  yourself." 


THREE    MILLION    DOLLAKS.  351 

Mr.  Dawson,  who  had  not  had  so  much  to  irritate 
him  in  regard  to  the  present  policy,  replied  as  follows  : 

"The  proposition  you  seem  to  reason  from  is,  that 
we  have  not  extended  our  laws  over  the  Indians. 
That  was  done  very  many  years  ago.  We  have  imposed 
upon  them,  by  superior  force,  the  most  infamous  code 
of  laws  ever  enacted  for  the  government  of  any  people. 
Just  get  a  copy  of  the  Re  vised  Statutes  of  the  United 
States,  and  read  the  sections  under  the  title,  Indians. 
It  is  the  enforcement  of  these  laws  which  has  caused 
all  the  cruelty  and  wrong  which  they  have  suffered. 
Had  it  not  been  for  these  statutes,  "Wilmot  could  have 
saved  Badger  and  his  companions.  It  is  under  cover  of 
them  that  Clark,  and  Brown,  and  Ilildreth  have  been 
able  to  rob  Red  Iron.  They  stand  there,  an  impregnable 
fortification,  behind  which  the  thieves  of  the  Indian 
King  defend  themselves,  and  any  attack  made  upon 
them,  until  these,  their  defenses,  are  demolished,  will 
end  in  total  defeat.  No  wrong  to  Indians  has  ever 
been  righted  since  they  have  been  enacted,  and  none 
ever  will  be  while  they  are  in  force." 

"  Do  you  suppose  you  could  get  Congress  to  repeal 
them?" 

"No." 

"  What  can  be  done,  then  ?" 

"  If  ever  a  case  is  taken  to  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  United  States,  involving  their  constitutionality, 
they  will  be  swept  out  of  existence." 

"  I  doubt  that  very  much." 

"  Many  of  the  best  lawyers  in  this  country  have 
long  held  that  opinion.  This  code  of  laws  is  perfectly 


352  THREE    MILLION    DOLLARS. 

infamous.  At  every  term  of  the  United  States  courts 
whose  districts  border  on  these  reservations,  there  are 
Indians  tried  and  convicted — for  conviction  almost  in 
variably  follows,  as  the  Indians  are  taken  hundreds  of 
miles  from  their  homes  and  the  scenes  of  the  alleged 
crimes,  to  be  tried,  where  it  is  next  to  impossible  to 
secure  the  presence  of  witnesses,  or  make  a  successful 
defense.  You  see  the  utter  absurdity  of  talking  about 
not  extending  our  laws  over  them.  What  is  needed  is 
the  total  abolition  of  this  infamous  '  black  code '  of 
laws  governing  Indians,  and  the  application  to  them  of 
the  same  laws  upon  which  white  men  rely  for  the  pro 
tection  of  their  lives,  liberty  and  property.  Give  them 
an  unincumbered  title  to  their  lands,  perfect  and  abso 
lute,  and  a  chance  to  defend  that  title,  as  white  men 
defend  theirs." 

"  What  about  the  annuities  or  money  due  them  P 

"  Let  them  be  distributed  through  the  quarter 
masters  and  paymasters  of  the  army.  They  would 
get  them  then." 

"I  never  could  consent  to  that,"  said  Mr.  Borden, 
"  and  I  think  you  and  Mr.  Wilmot  are  both  very  un 
just  to  Mr.  Clark." 

"  You  do,"  said  Wilmot,  who  had  returned  to  the 
room.  "  J  ust  read  that,"  and  he  handed  him  the  note 
which  Parker  had  brought  to  him  from  Mr.  Clark, 
authorizing  him  to  make  arrangements. 

"  1  see  nothing  wrong  in  this  note.  How  could  Mr. 
Clark  make  anything  out  of  this  ?" 

"You  know  that  he  is  one  of  the  committee  to 
supervise  the  purchase  of  Indian  supplies." 


THKEE    MILLION    DOLLARS.  353 

"  Yes,  I  am  on  that  committee  myself." 

"You  know  that  a  bid  was  accepted  from  one 
Anthony  Bluxhome,  for  a  certain  article  which  goes  to 
all  Indian  reserves." 

"  Really,  I  don't  remember  it.  In  fact,  I  paid  very 
little  attention  to  the  examination  of  the  bids.  Mr. 
Clark  did  that." 

"  Well,  Mr.  Clark  awarded  the  contract  for  those 
supplies  to  himself,  under  the  name  of  Anthony  Blux 
home,  and  goods  with  the  brand  of  his  firm  upon  them 
can  be  found  on  every  reservation  east  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains." 

"I  cannot  believe  that  Mr.  Clark  would  do  any 
thing  dishonorable.  He  is  known  as  an  eminent  phil 
anthropist  through  all  the  East." 

"  I  know  that  he  is  a  scoundrel,"  said  Wilmot,  in  a 
somewhat  excited  manner,  "  and  rotten  and  corrupt 
from  the  crown  of  his  head  to  the  soles  of  his  feet." 

"  We  won't  talk  about  the  matter  any  more,"  said 
Mr.  Borden. 

"  There's  Perkins,"  said  Wilmot,  looking  out  of  the 
window.  "  The  last  time  he  was  here  he  thought  he  did 
a  very  smart  thing  in  carrying  Jennie  Walker  off  to  his 
Agency,  and  she  was  forced  to  submit.  He  didn't 
gain  much  by  it.  All  his  advances  were  repulsed  and 
he  was  beaten  for  once.  I  wonder  what  he  is  after 
now?" 

"  He  is  after  the  remainder  of  his  money.  Haven't 
you  noticed  that  Congress  has  passed  a  bill  appropria 
ting  six  hundred  thousand  dollars  to  re-imburse  the 
State  for  expenses  incurred  in  resisting  an  incursion  of 


354  THREE    MILLION    DOLLARS. 

the  Indians.  Perkins  raised  a  company,  you  know,  and 
he  will  have  a  big  slice  of  that." 

"Dawson,"  said  "VVilmot,  "how  much  do  you 
suppose  that  gambling  scrape  of  Perkins's  down  at 
Hickman's  has  cost  the  people  of  the  United  States." 

"  About  three  million  dollars,  as  near  as  I  can  figure 
it  up." 

•X-  *  X  -5f  w  * 

The  little  Methodist  church  stood  just  under  the 
brow  of  the  bluff.  It  would  not  seat  to  exceed  one 
hundred  and  twenty-five  people.  One  evening  about 
half  that  number  gathered  there.  After  they  were  seated 
Wilmot  and  Jennie  walked  up  the  only  aisle,  and  Mr. 
Parkman  arose,  and  in  accordance  with  the  ritual  of 
his  church,  pronounced  them  man  and  wife. 

On  a  little  knoll,  pushed  out  from  the  main  hills 
into  the  bottom,  covered  with  a  beautiful  grove  of 
trees,  was  a  cottage.  Here  Wilmot  took  his  bride. 
Walking  in,  he  stood  in  the  center  of  the  room  and 
said : 

"  This  is  our  home.  Here  is  our  place  of  refuge 
— our  castle.  Though  the  sun  might  shine  in  at  a 
hundred  crevices  and  the  wind  find  ingress  through 
countless  apertures,  the  king  cannot  enter  here  without 
permission.  Around  it  is  thrown  up  a  fortification 
for  our  protection,  stronger  than  was  ever  made  of 
stone  and  mortar.  Armies  cannot  scale  it.  Time  will 
not  wear  it  away.  Year  by  year  it  will  grow  stronger 
and  higher." 

"  I  see  no  fortifications,"  said  Jennie. 

"  All  the  great  forces  of  the  Universe  are  invisible, 


THKEE    MILLION    DOLLAKS.  355 

and  while  the  parapets  around  our  home  cannot  be  seen 
by  the  eye,  yet  they  are  here,  substantial,  impassable. 
The  best  blood  of  a  hundred  generations  has  been 
poured  out  like  water  in  the  defense  of  their  founda 
tions.  Armies  have  melted  away  before  the  fire  of  the 
enemy  as  they  guarded  the  workers  who  laid  them. 
Finished,  impregnable,  invisible,  eternal,  they  stand 
around  us  to-night.  All  the  gates  open  outward  before 
him  who  approaches  from  within,  but  to  the  one  com 
ing  from  the  outside  they  are  locked,  and  the  key  to 
that  lock  is  in  our  hands.  Even  God  himself  has  for 
ever  relinquished  control  of  that  key.  It  is  our  voli 
tion." 

"  I  do  not  understand,"  said  Jennie.  "  What  is  it 
of  which  you  speak  ?" 

"  I  speak  of  the  *  law.'  May  the  time  soon  come 
when  the  Indian,  long  without  its  pale,  shall  find 
refuge  and  protection  behind  its  defenses !" 

The  next  morning  Jack  stood  in  the  door  of  the 
little  cottage.  His  revolvers  were  in  his  belt.  He 
held  in  one  hand  the  bridle  rein  of  his  horse,  and  ex 
tended  the  other  with  the  words : 

"  Good-bye." 

"  Where  are  you  going  ?"  asked  Jennie. 

"  Back  to  old  Eed  Iron.  I'm  going  to  stand  by 
him  so  long  as  there's  a  hair  in  his  scalp-lock." 

"  Good-bye." 

***** 

Ten  years  afterward  I  saw  old  Red  Iron.  He  was 
sitting  in  the  door  of  his  tent.  He  had  given  up  try 
ing  to  live  in  a  house.  He  had  built  two  in  that  time, 


356  THEEE    MILLION    DOLLARS. 

but  soon- after  they  were  finished  the  government  had 
changed  his  reservation,  and  he  was  forced  to  leave 
everything  and  go. 

"  What  are  you  doing  here  ?"  I  asked. 

"  Waiting  for  the  Great  Father  to  civilize  me,"  he 

replied. 

***** 

The  reader  may  say,  "These  things  happened  a 
long  time  ago.  Nothing  like  it  occurs  now."  A  mo 
ment  ago  I  took  up  a  New  York  daily  paper,  and  my 
eye  fell  upon  this  telegram  : 

"  CINCINNATI,  May  15,  1881. 

"  A  special  from  Sante  Fe,  New  Mexico,  reports  im 
pending  trouble  with  the  Navajo  Indians.  A  military 
force  will  be  sent.  The  rations  for  the  Navajos  are 
exhausted.  The  younger  Indians  want  war,  while  the 
older  ones  oppose  it." 


THE   END. 


1881. 


1881. 


iNEW    BOOKS 


AND    NEW  EDITIONS, 

RECENTLY   ISSUED   BY 

G-.  W.  CARLETON&CO.,  Publishers, 

Madison  Square,  New  York. 


The  Publishers,  on  receipt  of  price,  send  any  book  on  this  Catalogue  by 


All  handsomely  bound  in  cloth,  with  gilt  backs  suitable  for  libraries. 
Mary  J.  Holmes'  Works. 


Tempest  and  Sunshine $i  50 


English  Orphans 

Homestead  on  the  Hillside 

'Lena  Rivers 

Meadow  Brook 

Dora  Deane 

Cousin  Maude 

Marian  Grey 

Edith  Lyle 

Daisy  Thornton 

Chateau  D'Or (New) 


Alone  $ 

Hidden  Path 

Moss  Side 

Nemesis 

Miriam 

At  Last 

Helen  Gardner 

True  as  Steel (New) 

Charles  Dickens— 15 

Pickwick,  and  Catalogue $ 

Dombey  and  Son 

Bleak  House 

Martin  Chuzzlewit 

Barnaby  Rudge— Edwin  Drood. 
Child's  England — Miscellaneous 
Christmas  Books — Two  Cities. . . 

Sets  of  Dickens'  Complete  Works 

Augusta 

Beulah J 

Macaria 

Inez. .. 


Marion  Harland's  "Works. 


Darkness  and  Daylight j 

Hugh  Worthington 

Cameron  Pride 

Rose  Mather 

Ethelyn's  Mistake 

Millbank 

Edna  Browning 

West  Lawn 

Mildred 

Forrest  House (New) 


Sunnybank 

Husbands  and  Homes.. 

Ruby's  Husband 

Phemie's  Temptation.., 

The  Empty  Heart 

Jessamine , 

From  My  Youth  Up 

My  Little  Love 


Vols.-"  Carleton's  Edition." 


David  Copperfield 

Nicholas  Nickleby 

Little  Dorrit 

Our  Mutual  Friend 

Curiosity  Shop — Miscellaneous. 
Sketches  by  Boz— Hard  Times.. 

Great  Expectations — Italy 

Oliver  Twist — Uncommercial... 


in  15  vols.  —  [elegant  half  calf  bindings]...   5    oo 

J.  Evans'  Novels. 


St.  Elmo $ 

Vashti 

Infelice .(New) 


G.    W.   CARLE  TON  &  COSS  PUBLICATION'S. 


May    Agnes    Fleming's    Novels. 

Guy  Earlscourt's  Wife $    50 

A  Terrible  Secret 50 

Norine's  Revenge 50 

Silent  and  True 50 

Heir  of  Charlton 50 

Lost  for  a  Woman — New 50 

The    Game 


Pole  on  Whist— The  English  stand 


glisn  stand 

Miriam 

Rutledge $ 

Frank  Warrington 


Louie's  Last  Term,  St.  Mary's.. 

A  Perfect  Adonis 

Missy — New 


Julie  P. 

Widow  Goldsmith's  Daughter,  $ 

Chris  and  Otho 

Ten  Old  Maids 

His  Young  Wife 

Lucy— New 


A  Wonderful .Woman $i  50 

A  Mad  Marriage i  50 

One  Night's  Mystery i  50 

Kate  Danton i  50 

Carried  by  Storm i  50 

A  Wife's  Tragedy...  (New) 150 

of   Whist. 


rd  work.     With  the  "  Portland  Rules.".  ...       75 
Coles    Harris. 


50  The  Sutherlands  ................  $i  50 

50  St.  Philips  ........................  i  50 

50  Round  Hearts  for  Children  ......  i  50 

50  Richard  Vandermarck  .........  i  50 

50  Happy-Go-Lucky..   .(New).  .....   150 

Hill's  Cook    Book. 
Mrs.  A.  P.  Hill's  New  Southern  Cookery  Book,  and  domestic  receipts.  .....  $2  oo 


Smith's 

50    |     The 


vels. 

ower. 


50 


Victor 


The  Married  Belle 150 

Courting  and  Farming. i  50 

Kiss  and  be  Friends i  50 

Hugo. 


Captain    Mayne    Re: 


Iy  co 
id. 


The  Scalp  Hunters $i  50 

The  Rifle  Rangers i  50 

The  War  Trail 150 

The  Wood  Rangers i  50 

The  Wild  Huntress i  50 

A.    S.    Roe's 

True  to  the  Last $i  50 

The  Star  and  the  Cloud i  50 

How  Could  He  Help  it  ? i  50 

Child's  History  of  England— Carleton's  TXevt~^>chool  Editio^"  Illustrated.. 
Hand- Books 


The  White  Chief. $i  50 

The  Tiger  Hunter i  50 

The  Hunter's  Feast i  50 

Wild  Life i  50 

Osceola,  the  Seminole i  50 

elect    Stories. 

A  Long  Look  Ahead $i  50 

I've  Been  Thinking 150 

To  Love  and  to  be  Loved i  50 

Uickens. 

"Tew  "  School  Edition*"  Illustrated. .  $i  oo 
of    Society 


The  Habits  of  Good  Society— The  nice  points  of  taste  and  good  manners $i  oo 

The  Art  of  Conversation — for  those  who  wish  to  be  agreeable  talkers i  oo 

The  Arts  of  Writing,  Reading  and   Speaking— For  Self-Improvement i  oo 

New  Diamond  Edition — Elegantly  bound,  3  volumes  in  a  box 3  oo 

Carleton's    Popular    Quotations. 

Carleton's  New  Hand-Book — Familiar  Quotations,  with  their  Authorship $i  50 

Famous    Books— Carleton's    Edition. 

Arabian  Nights — Illustrations  ...$ioo    I    Don  Quixote— Dore  Illustrations.. $i  oo 

Robinson  Crusoe — Griset.     do...     i  oo    |    Swiss  Family  Robinson,      do...   i  oo 

Josh    Billings 

His  Complete  Writings — With  Biography,  Steel  Portrait,  and  100  Illustrations. $2  50 

Old  Probability — Ten  Comic  Alminax,  1870  to  1879.     Bound  in  one  volume i  50 

Allan    Pinkerton, 
Model  Town  and  Detectives §i  50    |    Spiritualists  and  Detectives $i  50 


Strikers,  Communists,  etc  .....   i  50 

Criminal  Reminiscences,  etc i  50 

Gypsies  and  Detectives i  50 

A  New  Bqok I  50 

Celia    £.    Gardner's 

Stolen  Waters.     (In  verse) $i  50 

Broken  Dreams.     (Inverse) i  50 

Compensation.     (Inverse) i  50 

Terrace  Roses i  50 


Mollie  Maguires  and  Detectives  i  50 

Mississippi  Outlaws,  etc i  50 

Bucholz  and  Detectives i  50 

Novels. 

Tested : $i  50 

Rich  Medways  Two  Loves 150 

A  Woman's  Wiles i  50 


G.    W.   CARLETON  &  CO? S  PUBLICATIONS. 

"New  York  Weekly"  Series 

rown  on  the  World $    50  I  Nick 'Whiffles... 


Th 

A  Bitter  Atonement 
Love  Works  Wonders 
Evelyn's  Folly 
Lady  Darner's  Secret 
Peerless  Cathleen 


$i  50 

Lady  Leonora i  50 

The  Grinder  Papers i  50 

Faithful  Margaret  i  50 

Curse  of  Everleigh i  50 

A  Woman's  Temptation i  50 


Brownie's  Triumph 

Artemas  Ward. 

Complete  Comic  Writings — With  Biography,  Portrait  and  50  illustrations $i  50 

Charles  Dickens. 

Dickens'  Parlor  Table  Album  of  Ilustrations— with  descriptive  text $2  50 

M.  M.  Pomeroy  ("Brick"). 


Sense.     A  serious  book $i  50 

Gold  Dust.     Do i  50 

Our  Saturday  Nights i  50 


Nonsense.     (A  comic  book) $i  50 

Brick-dust.  Do        i  50 

Home  Harmonies i  50 


Magic  Mother  Goose 

Magic  Transformation  Pictures— Six  books,  25  cents  each.     Bound  in  one...$i  50 
Ernest  Kenan's  French  "Works* 

The  Life  of  Jesus.    Translated... $x  75  I  The  Life  of  St.  Paul.  Translated. $i  75 

Lives  of  the  Apostles.     Do  i  75  |  The  Bible  in  India — By  Jacolliot..   a  oo 

G.  W.  Carleton. 

Our  Artist  in  Cuba,  Peru,  Spain,  and  Algiers — 150  Caricatures  of  travel $i  oo 

Miscellaneous    Publications* 
Hawk-eyes — a  comic  book  by  "The  Burlington  Hawkeye  Man."     Illustrated..  .$i  50 

Among  the  Thorns — A  new  novel  by  Mrs.  Mary  Lowe  Dickinson i  50 

College  Tramps — Yale  College  students  on  a  trip.     By  F.  A.  Stokes i  50 

Our  Daughters — A  talk  with  mothers,  by  M  arion  Harland i  oo 

Redbirds  Christmas  Story— An  illustrated  Juvenile.     By  Mary  J.  Holmes....       50 

Carleton's  Popular  Readings — Edited  by  Mrs.  Anna  Randall-Diehl i  50 

The  Culprit  Fay — Joseph  Rodman  Drake's  Poem.     With  100  illustrations a  oo 

L'Assommoir — English  Translation  from  Zola's  famous  French  novel i  oo 

Parlor  Amusements — Games,  Tricks,  and  Home  Amusements,  by  F.  Bellew  ..   i  oo 

Love  [L'Amour] — Translation  from  Michelet's  famous  French  work i  50 

Woman  [La  Femme] —       Do  Do  Do i  50 

Verdant  Green— A  racy  English  college  Story.     With  200  comic  illustrations i  oo 

Laus  Veneris,  and  other  Poems — By  Algernon  Charles  Swinburne i  50 

Birds  of  a  Feather  Flock  Together— By  Edward  A.  Sothern,  the  actor i  oo 

Beatrice  Cenci — from  the  Italian  novel,  with  Guide's  celebrated  portrait i  50 

The  Two  Brides— A  new  novel  by  Rev.  Bernard  O'Reilly ;  Laval i  50 

Morning  Glories— A  charming  collection  of  Children's  stories.    By  Louisa  Alcott.    i  oo 

Some  Women  of  To-Day— A  novel  by  Mrs.  Dr.  Wm.  H.  White i  50 

Cashier's  Scrap-Book—Anecdotes  of  Banks  and  Bankers.     By  H.  C.  Percy.. .    2  oo 

From  New  York  to  San  Francisco— By  Mrs.  Frank  Leslie.  Illustrated i  50 

Why  Wife  and  I  Quarreled— A  Poem  by  author  "Betsey  and  I  are  out."  ...    i  oo 

West  India  Pickles— A  yacht  Cruise  in  the  Tropics.     By  W.  P.  Talboys I  oo 

How  to  Make  Money;  and  how  to  Keep  it— By  Thomas  A  Davies i  50 

Threading  My  Way— The  Autobiography  of  Robert  Dale  Owen. i  50 

Debatable  Land  between  this  World  and  Next— Robert  Dale  Owen 2  oo 

Lights  and  Shadows  of  Spiritualism— By  D.  D.  Home,  the  Medium 2  oo 

Yachtman's  Primer— Instructions  for  Amateur  Sailors.  ByT.  R.  Warren.  50 
The  Fall  of  Man— A  Darwinian  Satire,  by  author  of  "New  Gospel  of  Peace.  ..  50 
The  Chronicles  of  Gotham— A  New  York  Satire.  Do.  Do.  ..  25 

Tales  from  the  Operas— A  collection  of  stories  based  upon  the  Opera  plots i  oo 

Ladies  and  Gentlemen's  Etiquette  Book,  of  the  best  Fashionable  Society. .    i  oo 

Self  Culture  in  Conversation,  Letter- Writing,  and  Oratory i  oo 

Love  and  Marriage— A  book  for  young  people.     By  Frederick  Saunders i  oo 

Under  the  Rose — A  Capital  book,  by  the  author  of  "  East  Lynne." i  oo 

So  Dear  a  Dream — A  novel  by  Miss  Grant,  author  of  "The  Sun  Maid" i  oo 

Give  me  thine  Heart — A  Capital  new  Love  Story  by  Roe i  oo 

Progressive  Petticoats— A  Satirical  tale,  by  Robert  B.  Roosevelt i  oo 


G.   W.   CARLETON  &  CO:S  PUBLICATIONS. 


Miscellaneous    Works. 

Dawn  to  Noon— By  Violet  Fane  ..$  50  Victor  Hugo— Autobiography \ 

o * _!„  T?-*-  -r»,.  __  Orpheus  C.  Kerr — 4.  vols.  in  one. . 

Fanny  Fern  Memorials 

oo      Parodies— C.  H.  Webb  (John  Paul). 

50      My  Vacation.          Do.        Do. 


Constance's  Fate —    Do. 

H.  M.  S.  Pinafore— The  Play.... 

A  Steamer  Book— W.  T.  Helmuth. 

Lion  Jack— By  P.  T.  Barnum 

Jack  in  the  Jungle —    Do      ....  50 

Gospels  in  Poetry — E.  H.  Kimball.  50 

Southern  Woman  Story — Pember  75 

Madame  Le  Vert's — Souvenirs....  oo 

Care  of  Children — Gardner 50 

Border  War— T.  B.  Peacock 50 

Comic  Primer — Frank  Bellew 25 

He  and  I— Sarah  B.  Stebbins 50 

Annals  of  a  Baby.        Do     50 

Me— Mrs  Spencer  W.  Coe 50 

Trump  Kards — Josh  Billings 10 

Little  Guzzy — John  Habberton oo 

Offenbach  in  America — 50 

Rural  Architecture— M.  Field....  oo 
Coney  Island  and  and  the  Jews. 


Miscellaneous    No 


Sub  Rosa — Chas.  T.  Murray $  50 

Hilda  and  I — E.  Bed,ell  Benjamin..  50 

Madame — Frank  Lee  Benedict....  50 

Hammer  and  Anvil —      Do.  ...  50 

Her  Friend  Lawrence — Do.  ...  50 

Sorry  Her  Lot — Miss  Grant 

Two  of  Us — Calista  Halsey 75 

Spell-Bound — Alexandre   Dumas  .  75 

Wired  Love— E.  C.  Thayer 75 

Cupid  on  Crutches — A.  B.  Wood.  75 

Doctor  Antonio— G.  Ruffini 50 

Parson  Thome — Buckingham 50 

Marston  Hall— L.  Ella  Byrd 50 

Ange — Florence  Marryatt oo 

Errors — Ruth  Carter 50 

Heart's  Delight— Mrs.  Alderdice..  50 

Unmistakable  Flirtation — Garner  75 

Wild  Oats — Florence  Marryatt  ...  50 

Widow  Cherry — B.  L.  Farjeon...  25 

Solomon  Isaacs —        Do.  ...  50 

Led  Astray — Octave  Feuillet 50 

She  Loved  Him  Madly— Borys..  50 

Thick  and  Thin— Mery 50 

So  Fair  yet  False — Chavette 50 

A  Fatal  Passion     C.  Bernard 50 

Woman  in  the  Case — B.  Turner.  50 

Marguerite's  Journal — For  Girls.  50 

Milly  Darrel— M.  E.  Braddon oo 

Edith  Murray — Joanna  Mathews..  oo 

Doctor  Mortimer — Fannie  Bean..  50 

Outwitted  at  Last — S.  A.  Gardner  50 

Vesta  Vane— L.  King.  R 50 

Louise  and  I — C.  R.  Dodge 50 

My  Queen — By  Sandette 50 

Fallen  among  Thieves — Rayne..  50 

San   Miniato — Mrs.  Hamilton oo 

Peccavi — Emma  Wendler 50 

Conquered — By  a  New  Author 50 

Shiftless  Folks— Fannie  Smith 50 

I   Drifted  Together 75 


Sandwiches— Artemus  Ward 

Watchman  of  the  Night 

Nonsense  Rhymes— W.  H.  Beckett 

Sketches — John  H.  Kingsbury 50 

Lord  Bateman— Cruikshank's  111..       25 
Northern  Ballads — E.  L.  Anderson      oo 

Beldazzle  Bachelor  Poems oo 

Wood's  Guide  to  N.  Y.  City.... 

Only  Caprice — Paper  covers 75 

Was  it  Her  Fault.      Do 

Fashion  and  Passion.  Do 

His  Idol.  Do 

About   Lawyers — Jeffreson 

About  Doctors.  Do 

Window  Spriggins-Widow  Bedott 


All  For  Her— A  tale  of  New  York..  J 
All  For  Him— By  All  For  Her.... 

For  Each  Other—    Do 

Janet — An  English  novel 

Saint  Leger— Richard  B.  Kimball. 
Was  He  Successful  ?  Do.  . 
Uudercurrents  of  Wall  St.Do.  . 
Romance  of  Student  Life.  Do.  . 
To-Day.  Do.  . 

Life  in  San  Domingo.  Do.  . 
Henry  Powers,  Banker.  Do.  . 
Baroness  of  N.  Y.-Joaquin  Miller. 
One  Fair  Woman —  Do.  Do. 
Another  Man's  Wife — Mrs.  Hartt. 
Purple  and  Fine  Linen — Fawcett 
Pauline's  Trial— L.  D.  Courtney.. 
The  Forgiging  Kiss — M.  Loth... 
Flirtation— A  West  Point  novel.  . . 

Loyal  into  Death — 

That  Awful  Boy— 

That  Bridget  of  Ours— 

Bitterwood— By  M.  A.  Green 

Phemie  Frost — Ann  S.  Stephens.. 

Charette — An  American  novel  

Fairfax — John  Esten  Cooke 

Hilt  to  Hilt.  Do 

Out  of  the  Foam.        Do 

Hammer  and  Rapier.  Do 

Warwick-^By  M.  T.  Wai  worth  ... 

Lulu.  Do 

Hotspur.  Do.  . .   

Stormcliff.  Do 

Delaplaine.  Do 

Beverly.  Do 

Kenneth— Sallie  A.  Brock 

Heart  Hungry — Westmoreland.... 

Clifford  Troupe.  Do 

Silcott  Mill— Maria  D.  Deslonde.. 

John  Maribel.  Do. 

LOT 


>ve's  Vengeance 75 


